The I Love You Bug, a Comedy of Script Errors
by Brenren
Summary: What happens when a simple little message for help has all of Mainframe up in arms? **COMPLETED AT LAST, ENJOY** Please r&r.
1. Chapter 1

This is my very first fan fic.  It's not finished yet but I hope to get more out soon.  I also hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.  I want to thank everyone that encouraged me to publish this, and also say a HUGE thanks to Claire Hunter for unstopping the writer's block.  I couldn't do this without you.

**Disclaimer:**  I do not own any of the ReBoot characters, yadda, yadda, yadda; I think you all know how the rest of this goes, so let's get on with the story.

            "Ah," Phong thought to himself, "there's nothing like a good cup of cocoa to start the day with."  The mornings in Mainframe were always so peaceful, and he particularly enjoyed the quiet of the Principal Office before all of the day's business began.  No one had arrived yet, so he went into his office to reflect and enjoy his cocoa.  He hadn't even made it to his desk yet when he heard a commotion coming from the hall.  Phong started toward the door, intent on finding out just what was going on out there, but just before he reached it, it burst open.  He was very surprised to see Hack standing there.  

            "Hack." Said Phong.  "What brings you here so early, my son?"

            "Phong!"  Hack sounded very agitated.  "You gotta help me!  It's Slash!"  Hack pulled a very burnt and charred looking Slash through the office door and laid him in one of the chairs.

            "Oh dear, what has happened?"

            "He… he was… he was making toast!"  Hack cried out as he burst into tears.  "I told him not to stick the fork in the toaster, but did he listen?  No!  Now he's gone and fried most of his circuits!"

            Phong turned to Slash.  "Can you hear me my son?" he said to him with concern in his voice.  Slash tried to respond, but was unable to speak.  Only the normal squeaking and clicking noises could be heard, but no voice.  

            "He hasn't been able to say a word," said Hack.  "I didn't even know anything was wrong until he handed me this note.  That's when I saw the smoke coming out of his head!  It was horrible!"  He burst into tears yet again, pulled out a handkerchief, and blew his nose very loudly into it.  "I had to take his head off to put the fire out!"

            "You say he handed you a note?" Phong inquired.

            "Yep!  Poor Slash.  So brave.  On fire, and still had time to write this note."  Hack handed the note over to Phong.

"Amazing!" Phong said to himself more than to Hack.  He read the note.

I am not able to speak in words, so I'm writing this to tell you how I feel.  My temperature is rising, and I feel like I'm on fire.  I need you now or this fire will consume me.  I'm burning so very deep inside of me.  Please help me to put out these flames.  I will surely delete without you.

            It seemed rather lengthy and a bit ridiculous to go into so much detail when one was on fire.

            "You say Slash wrote this note?" Phong asked.

            "Yes, he did."

            "While he was on fire?"

            "That is correct."

            "And this doesn't seem odd to you?"

            "No."

            "I see."

            "Should it?"

            Phong unscrewed Slash's head and placed it off to the side of his body to take a look inside and assess the damage.  "Good news my son.  It seems that only a few of his circuit boards have been damaged.  The tech boys should be able to repair the damage to his vocal functions in no time."  Phong then picked up Slash's head and looked inside.  "With a little luck, Slash should be back to normal by the end of the cycle.  Just take him down to see Hugh Branch in the lower levels.  Tell him I said it's urgent.  They will be able to take care of him."

            "Oh thank you Phong," Hack said as he grabbed Phong and hugged him tightly.  "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

            Phong gasped for breath as the big red robot held him tight.  "That is quite alright, my son.  Now take him down there, and get him repaired."

            As Hack and Slash headed down to the lower levels of the Principal Office, Phong returned to his desk and set the note down, when something shiny caught his eye.  It was a small seashell earring on the floor.  

            "Oh dear," he said to himself.  "AndrAIa must have dropped this while she was here yesterday."  He picked up the earring and placed it on top of Slash's note, making a mental note to return it to AndrAIa when he saw her.

            A few nanos later, Phong was headed toward the war room to start his day when he ran into AndrAIa in the hall.

            "Good morning, Phong." The young sprite said with a smile.  "Was that Hack and Slash that I just saw?"

"Good morning my child." The old sprite replied.  "Yes, it was.  I'm afraid that one of them is in need of a few repairs."

"Don't tell me Slash tried to make toast again."  She giggled and rolled her eyes.  "They'll never learn, will they?"

Phong shook his head.  "Probably not." He said matter-of-factly, which made AndrAIa giggle more.  "By the way my child, I have something for you on my desk.  I need to check the status of some security codes right now, but you may go and retrieve it if you like."

"Sure thing, Phong.  I'll meet you back in the war room then."  And with that the two sprites went their separate ways.

***

AndrAIa walked into Phong's office and over to the desk.  There she saw an earring that she had lost the day before, and under it was a short note.  She picked up the earring and put it in her ear, then picked up the note and read it.

"I am not able to speak in words…"  She trailed off as she began reading it to herself.  But she could feel herself blush as the last two phrases came out of her mouth out loud.  "Please help me to put out these flames.  I will surely delete without you."  She repeated in mild shock.

            _Phong?_ She thought to herself.  _Phong has a thing for me?_  It couldn't be.  This was sweet old Phong.  Well, he probably _was_ pretty lonely here in the Principal Office.  They'd been spending a lot of time together in the war room and it was probably only natural that he would develop some feelings towards her.  But who knew that Phong could be so… Passionate?  Matrix had never expressed his adoration quite like this, not with this much feeling.  

            She couldn't face Phong now.  Not like this.  She was going to need some time to regain her composure before she could confront him about his feelings for her.  He was such a sweet and gentle sprite, and she didn't want to hurt him.  She needed to think of an easy way to let him down.  But for the moment, she was going to have to avoid him at all costs.  She decided to make up an excuse to leave.  Maybe she could just say that she wasn't feeling well.  That was it.  She'd head for home and have Matrix vid in for her.

            She made her way to the exit at a fairly good clip, almost at a run.  She was so distracted though, that she didn't see Bob coming from around the corner and ran straight into him, and upon doing so, the note slipped out of her hand.  

            "Whoa!"  Exclaimed Bob.  He didn't seem to notice.  "Where's the fire?"

            AndrAIa started to look around the floor for the missing piece of paper but couldn't seem to locate it.  "Fire?" she replied.  "What fire?  What do you mean?"

            Bob flashed a quizzical look toward her.  "Just wondering why you're in such a hurry, that's all."  She seemed to be rather distracted by something.  "Are you ok?"

            Her eyes continuously patrolled the floor looking for the dropped note.  She couldn't see it anywhere.  Where had it gone?  "Actually Bob, I'm not feeling that well."  She was still looking for the note and was getting frustrated by not being able to find it.  She was in a silent panic.  "If you see Phong, could you tell him I'm not going to be in today?"

            "Sure AndrAIa, I'll tell him."  He still wondered if she was ok.  She seemed so preoccupied for some reason, and couldn't seem to look him in the eye.  "Do you want a lift home?  My car is just outside."  

            "No thanks," she said.  "I think I could really use some fresh air."

            "Well, as long as you're sure…"

            "Yes!  Yes, I'm sure.  I'll see you later."  She hurried out the door.

            "_That_ was weird."  He thought out loud.  He continued to walk down the hall, all the while wondering what it was that had AndrAIa so spooked.  He had never seen her like that before.  She was acting so strange.

            He kept walking towards the war room and realized he had a strange chaffing feeling on his wrist.  When he looked down to see what was causing the irritation, he noticed a small piece of paper had been wedged in his sleeve.  He pulled it out wondering how it had gotten there.  He lifted it to see it better and read what was written on it.  

            When he came to the end of the note, his face had turned almost purple.  He couldn't believe what he had just read.  _I will surely delete without you?_  So that's why she was acting so strange.  It must have taken a lot to muster up the courage to finally tell him.  How long had she been feeling this way towards him, he wondered?  What about Matrix?  Didn't she love him anymore?  He was such a null most of the time, always so dark and brooding.  Maybe she was just getting tired of how he acted.  Maybe she saw in Bob what she had hoped Matrix would one day be.

            He was going to have to talk to Matrix.  He didn't want to let him know about the note or what AndrAIa was feeling, but he had to talk to him.  He had to find out if Matrix sensed any trouble in their relationship.  But he had the sinking feeling that Matrix had no clue as to what was on her mind.  He never really was the sensitive type.  He opened a vid window to Phong.

            "Ah, good morning young guardian."  The old sprite exclaimed.  "How are you?"

            "Good Phong."  He replied.  "I just wanted to let you know that AndrAIa wasn't feeling too well, so she went home."

            "Oh, that is too bad."  Phong sounded saddened.  "I hope she gets over it soon."

            Bob paused for a nano before he replied thoughtfully.  "So do I, Phong.  So do I."

***

            Bob figured that at this time of the morning, Matrix was probably still at the diner having breakfast.  He walked in and glanced around, but he was nowhere to be found.  He did however see Mouse and Ray in a corner booth just finishing up their breakfast.  Mouse took notice and waved the guardian over.

            "Hey guys," Bob said, still rather unsettled.  "What's up?"

            "Not a lot here, Sugah," the hacker replied.  "Just getting a relaxing start to a busy day."

            "Speaking of busy days," the surfer said as he checked the clock above the counter, "I better get going.  I have a lot of surfing to do today.  Hexadecimal wants me to find some sort of playmate for Skuzzy.  She thinks he might be getting a bit lonely."  He got up from the table and gave Mouse a kiss on the cheek.  He went to grab the check that was lying there but got a quick slap on the hand from Mouse.  Bob looked on curiously.

            "Leave it there."  The redhead looked rather serious.  "I told you, breakfast was on me.  You won that bet fair and square."

            Ray gave Mouse a sly look and said, "I did, didn't I?"

            "Just get outta here and let me retain some of my dignity, will ya?"  She quipped with a grin.

            Ray snickered and gave her a small peck on the lips.  "Later, Love."

            "Later, Darlin."  She replied with a smile.

            He turned to go and patted Bob on the shoulder.  "See ya, Bob."  He picked up his surf baud as Bob slid into the seat opposite Mouse.  "And watch your back, mate.  She's tricky."  

            This made both Bob and Mouse laugh.  "I'll keep that in mind, Ray.  Thanks."  He replied with a grin as Ray made his way to the door.  He turned his attention to Mouse.  "I really don't want to know what that was about, do I?"  He asked her, amused by the couples exchange.

            Mouse just shook her head, grinned and said, "No, you don't."  He gave her a grin back.  "So, what's on your mind, guardian?"  She asked.  "You seem a little uneasy 'bout something."

            "Me?  No… I was just looking for Matrix is all." He replied stiffly.  "Have you seen him this morning?"

            "Sorry Sugah, afraid I haven't."  The hacker replied.  "Although I have seen Dot run back and forth through here a few times."

            Bob all of a sudden thought about Dot and how this thing with AndrAIa might affect them as a couple.  How would she be able to handle this if she found out?  AndrAIa was like family to her, almost her sister.  Would she hold AndrAIa's crush on him against him if she found out?  This opened up a whole new can of nulls, and Bob's concerns seemed to be growing by the nano.  

            Mouse was reading something on Bob's face, although she wasn't quite sure what it was.  "Alright, honey.  Don't tell me that there ain't nothing on your mind.  I can practically see your processors turning from here.  What's going on?"

            Bob always had a hard time keeping things from Mouse.  She was just one of those sprites that just seemed to have a knack for getting inside your head.  It was the main reason she and Dot had become such close friends.  She was easy to open up to.  But this was just one of those things he couldn't confide, no matter how easy it would be.  She and Dot were so close, there was a good chance that she might tell her if cornered.  He decided to change the subject.

            "How are you and Ray doing?" he asked, "I don't see you two together very often.  You getting along alright?"

            Mouse raised an eyebrow at him.  He seemed so tense and fidgety.  "We're doing fine, Sugah.  Why do you ask?"

            "It's just that both of you are so busy all the time, you never seem to have any time to yourselves is all."  He hoped she was buying it.  "It must be pretty hard on you two to be apart all the time."

            Mouse looked at Bob quizzically.  He was being evasive about something and she knew it.  "Why do I get the feeling that this ain't about me and Ray?" she asked.  

            Bob looked stunned that she had said this.  "What do you mean, Mouse?  Of course it is."

            It wasn't working.  She was good.  She could read a sprite like a book and if there were anything to hide, guaranteed, she would be the one to get to the bottom of it.  It was best to just cut his losses now and turn tail.

            "I… I have to… go to the bathroom."  He stood up and walked toward the restroom leaving a puzzled Mouse sitting at the booth.

            "Now just wait a nano…" she started, but it was too late.  He had already disappeared into the men's room.  Just what in blazes was up with him?  What was he hiding, and what was with all those questions?

            She decided to take care of the check and forget about what just happened, when she saw a small piece of paper sitting on the table in front of where Bob had been sitting.  She seemed to recall him fidgeting with it during their brief conversation.  He must have dropped it on his way to the bathroom.  She picked it up and considered just putting it on her empty plate and leaving it there but curiosity got the better of her.  She unfolded it and began to read.  She mouthed the words silently,_ I need you now or this fire will consume me… I'm burning so very deep inside of me.  Please help me to put out these flames.  I will surely delete without you.  _

            Her jaw almost hit the table.  That must be why he was asking all those questions about her and Ray?  Was he hoping that maybe they had grown apart?  How could she have missed this?  He must have been feeling like this for quite some time for it to come out so passionately.  She knew about the crush he had on her while they were at the academy, but as far as she knew, he had gotten over that and moved on.  And what about Dot?  Poor Dot.  How could she tell her best friend that her own boyfriend had the hots for her?  She didn't have the heart to tell her.  But still, could she let her go on thinking that Bob was the perfect sprite for her, when it was now obvious that he didn't share those feelings?  For the first time in her life, she wasn't quite sure how to handle the situation.

            "Hey Mouse, you still here?"  Mouse had been so distracted that she hadn't noticed Dot come in the front door.  She looked up, startled.  She saw her coming toward the booth, so she slid the note under the check and tried her best to just pretend everything was normal.

            "Uh… yeah, just getting ready to leave actually."  She replied, hoping that Dot wouldn't notice anything wrong.  She laid some units on top of the check to cover her bill and a hefty tip.  Cecil had been spilling things on Ray on purpose lately, and she thought it was time to maybe start correcting this behavior with bribery.  It seemed to work for his preferred customers.  Threatening him with disembowelment just didn't seem to have an affect.

            Dot slid into the booth opposite Mouse.  "That's too bad," she said, "I was hoping we could talk for a bit.  We hardly ever get to see each other anymore."

            "Dot, we work together at the Principal Office."  She replied.  "We see each other all the time."

            "I know that, but it's just not the same.  We don't ever really get to talk like we used to any more."

            "Excuse me Madame," Cecil interrupted and looked down at Mouse, who was trying desperately to figure out a way to leave without hurting Dot's feelings.  "Do you plan on vacating zis table sometime today, or are you going to sit here and let ze waiting customers starve to deletion?"  He asked with a smirk.

            "Cecil," Dot said, looking around the diner.  "There are only two other binomes in here, and the lunch crowd doesn't get here for another three milliseconds.  

            "That's quite alright, Dot."  Mouse replied getting up from the booth.  "I've taken up enough of the poor man's time."  She said almost relieved.  She turned to Cecil.  "And I left a little something special for ya, Cecil."  She said referring to the tip.  She patted him on the side of his screen as she walked by.  She turned back to Dot who looked a little disappointed by her leaving.  She seemed to really want to talk about something.  Maybe she sensed some trouble in her relationship with Bob.  It was going to have to wait though.  Mouse still hadn't made heads or tails of the situation herself and was going to need some time to think about it.  Let alone decide if she should tell her or not.  Either way, she was still going to have to be there for her friend.  "Dot, honey?"  She said to her friend.  "We'll talk later."  Dot nodded to her, and with that, Mouse was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

***

            Bob stood looking in the mirror after splashing some cold data on his face.  He had to pull himself together if he was going to get through this.  He had to talk to Matrix, of that he was certain.  He also had to find a way to deter AndrAIa's feelings for him.  Not to mention Dot was going to be coming into the diner soon and he couldn't face her right now.  Not with the way he was feeling.  _What in the net am I going to do?_  He thought.  Was it possible that he had misread the note?

            Bob looked down to his hands where the note had previously been.  _Uh oh!  _It was gone.  He began to look around the sink on the tiles.  He must have set it down when he washed his hands.  It wasn't there.  He began to scan the floor to see if it was there.  Nothing.  This was not good.  He had to find that note before Dot found it.  If she found out about AndrAIa's feelings for him like that, it would crush her.  Maybe it had gotten jammed in his sleeve again, or it was somewhere on his uniform.

            Bob checked his sleeves, nothing there.  He checked the rim of his boots.  Sometimes he managed to drop change in them, it could have happened with the note.  Nothing again.  Bob then did the only thing left to do.  He went into the stall and started to strip to check his uniform.  He just had to find it.  His whole relationship with Dot depended on it.

***

            Dot was more than a little disappointed by Mouse's decision to leave so suddenly.  It had been quite a while since the two friends had actually had a good girl talk.  She had been hoping to catch up with her for some time now.  But for some reason, Mouse had seemed distracted and withdrawn.  Dot had noticed that she was with Ray while she ran in and out of the diner earlier this morning.  Were she and Ray having problems?  It didn't seem like it.  But then again, looks can be deceiving.  Or perhaps Mouse was just worried about Ray.  He always had to go out into the web or the net or wherever he was needed and couldn't be around that much.  Or maybe she just missed him when he was gone.  Whatever it was though, Mouse was just not acting like herself.

            Dot had a sneaking feeling that something was wrong.  Mouse was never the type to get off lined about something easily.  She hoped for her friend's sake, that it was nothing too serious.  She sighed and pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind, opened some vid windows and began to work on some accounts that she had been neglecting for too long.  

***

            Cecil went right to work clearing the table of dishes and debris, while Dot went to work.  He picked up the check and units, took them over to the till and began to count it out.  He was more than a little surprised to see that the hacker had finally left him a tip befitting the fine, dedicated server he was.  Perhaps she finally realized all the hard work and commitment it took to make the diner run smoothly.  Either that, or spilling energy shakes on the surfer was beginning to pay off.  

            He was just putting the last of the bills in the tip jar when he noticed a small piece of paper with something written on it.  He began to read it as he took the java pot over to table seven, where a pair of binomes was waiting for a refill.  He began to pour the java into a cup when he read the phrase; _I need you now or this fire will consume me.  _His full attention was now on the note.  He read on; _please help me to put out these flames.  I will surely delete without you. _

"Ok, ok!"  Cecil heard one of the binomes exclaim.  "We get it, Cecil.  We'll leave a tip, honest!"

            Cecil tore his attention away from the note and looked down to discover that he had over filled the cup and it was now spilling all over the table.  Without a hint of remorse, he simply replied, "Terribly sorry, Monsieur.  How clumsy of me."  With that, he tossed a towel to the binome and left to go back behind the counter.

            _Ze hacker must have left zis note,_ he thought to himself.  And she _did_ leave a rather large tip.  What was going through her mind?  Was it a trick?  Was she just toying with him?  She could be quite flirtatious sometimes.  But even her sense of humor couldn't go this far, could it?  He could almost feel the pain in every word.  _I knew she didn't really care for zat surfer, _he thought to himself.  Ray was as wild and troublesome as she was, and that was not what she needed.  What she needed was someone stable and poised to tame that wild and brazen spirit.  It was what she wanted.  And he was just the dedicated server that could do it.  

            Cecil suddenly developed a large grin as he went about his duties.  _She wants me,_ he thought.  He decided he was just going to play it cool and let her do all of the begging.  She already took the first step.  Now he would just wait and see what her next move would be.  He might even just string her along only to deny her what she wanted.  He was going to enjoy this immensely.  He would put the impetuous redhead in her place.

            Cecil was in high spirits now.  Not even the arrival of Matrix could dampen his mood.  Just as this thought had entered his head, it was about to be tested.  Matrix sauntered in with a trademark scowl on his face.  He saw Dot working in the corner booth, walked over and sat down in the seat opposite her.  

            "Hey Sis.  What's up?"  He asked, glancing at all of the open vid screens surrounding her.  He was still amazed by the fact that she ran the city as Command.com and still had the time to handle her various business ventures.

            "Just the usual, nothing to email home about," she stated, not even looking up from her organizer.  "How about you?"

            "Not too much with me, but Andi came home this morning not feeling too well," the large sprite replied.

            Dot finally looked up from her spreadsheets.  "Is she alright?"  The concern in her voice was evident.  

            "Yeah, I think so, probably just a bug that's going around," he said.  "Hey, is Bob still here?  Mouse told me that he wanted to talk to me."

            "To tell you the truth, I haven't seen him at all this morning.  I just got here myself.  What was it about?  Did she say?"  She inquired.

            "No, she didn't.  She just said that she saw him here and that he was looking for me."  He replied as he grabbed her energy shake and took a long drink.

            "Hey, get your own!"  She snapped as she grabbed the shake back from him.

            "Well, I would if Cecil didn't ignore me all the time," he replied, "and since you banned me from using Gun to threaten him, I can't get served around here."

            Just as Matrix said this, Cecil came gliding over with a look on his screen that Matrix had never seen before.  Was that a smile?  It couldn't be.  Cecil never smiled.  At least not when he was around.  Even as a boy, he remembered Cecil was always so moody and sullen.  So what was that on his face?  It still looked like… a smile.

            "Ah, good morning Monsieur Matrix.  What can I get for you?"  Cecil was uncharacteristically cheerful for once.  Not only was he smiling and cheerful, but it was with him.  Cecil had never been nice to him in his life.  What was up with him?

            "Uh… an energy shake… please."  Matrix replied tentatively.  He wasn't sure what to make of this personality switch.

            "Of course Monsieur, coming right up."  Cecil said as he gave Matrix what almost looked like a wink.  He sped away behind the counter.

            "Dot?"  Dot raised her head once more.  "What in the net is up with Cecil?  It's beginning to scare me."  Matrix asked in a hushed whisper.

            "What?"  Dot glanced over at Cecil refilling the shake machine.  "What do you mean?  I don't see anything different."  She looked puzzled by his remark.

            "Maybe not for you."  He replied.  "He's always nice to you.  But he's acting really strange.  Normally he would have either just ignored me or insulted me by now.  I didn't even have to try to get his attention; he just came over to take my order.  Doesn't that seem a little odd to you?"

            Dot had to snicker at her brother's paranoid behavior.  "Enzo, that's his job.  Relax, he's probably just happy that Mouse left him a tip." She replied still grinning.  Matrix wasn't buying in on it though.  He was going to be keeping a close eye on Cecil to see what he was up to.

            Cecil was still in a marvelous mood.  He actually hummed to himself while mixing the large sprite's shake.  What he didn't notice is that he set the newly poured and sweating shake container right on top of the note.  When he picked it up to carry it over to Matrix, the note stuck to it.  He glided back to the booth that the siblings occupied and gingerly set the shake down in front of Matrix, not noticing the small tag of paper that just barely peeked out from the bottom.

            "Zer you are, Monsieur," Cecil said, still beaming and grinning, "and I added a little extra energy to it for you, just ze way you like it.  Enjoy."  He skimmed back behind the counter and started to hum again.

            Matrix looked back at Dot who was once again fixed on her spreadsheets.  "Tell me you heard that!"  He exclaimed.  "Didn't that seem more than a little strange to you?"

            Dot once again looked up from her work and took another look toward Cecil.  He was behind the counter wiping a glass with a towel and humming to himself.  He did seem to be a bit more cheerful than usual today, but it certainly didn't seem as if anything strange was happening.

            "Matrix," replied Dot, "I think you're reading way too much into this."  She said shaking her head.  "There's nothing strange happening.  He's just having a good day for once.  It'll probably change once the lunch crowd comes in."

            Matrix sighed in defeat.  "Yeah, you're probably right Sis," he replied.  It still didn't seem right to him though.  Cecil was not a happy server, and this sudden change in attitude, especially towards him, quite frankly was giving him the jaggies.  He glanced back over to Cecil, who was currently refilling the java machine and whistling to himself.  In a strange way, it did seem nice not to have to threaten him to get service.  But what could make him do an about-face like that?  He couldn't for the life of him figure it out.

            "Well," Dot said closing her vid windows, "I'm about finished here.  I'm going to head back to the Principal Office.  If you see Bob, tell him I'm sorry I missed him."  She slid out of the booth and stood.

            "Sure Sis," he replied absently still looking in Cecil's direction.  Dot just rolled her eyes and shook her head.  What was it with these two?  She didn't have time to think about that now though. 

 "Tell AndrAIa I said I hope she gets better soon."  She said as she was walking out.  

            "Ok, I will," he said, not taking his eye off the server.  He watched as Cecil happily zipped back into the kitchen.  Something was definitely not right.  The more he thought about it, the more nervous he became.  He started to fidget with the shake container in front of him.  After sliding it back and forth a few times across the surface of the table, he noticed the small piece of paper attached to the bottom of it.  He pulled it off and saw that it had something written on it.  He began to read; _I am not able to speak in words… _he skimmed over most of it, but then something caught his eye and he read it over again to make sure that it actually said what it said.  _Please help me to put out these flames.  I will surely delete without you._

            Matrix puzzled over the origin of the note.  Where did this thing come from?  Who had written it and to whom?  It sounded like a love letter of sorts.  As these thoughts were running through his processor, Cecil came back out of the kitchen and glided back over to the booth.

            "Is zer anysing else I can get for you, Monsieur?"  Cecil said with a large grin.  "Anozer energy shake perhaps?  Or maybe somesing to eat?"  

            "Uh… no.  No thanks.  I think I'll just pay for this and be on my way."  He said still confused.  

            "Certainly, Monsieur!  And I hope you enjoyed ze little extra touch to ze shake."  Cecil once again gave Matrix a wink and went off into the kitchen humming all the way.

            A sickening thought was entering Matrix's mind.  He looked down at the note once more and painfully started to put the scenario together.  All that winking?  A little extra touch to the shake?  Oh dear user, no!  It couldn't be.  _This has got to be some sort of sick joke, _he thought to himself!  He was starting to feel ill.  He had always thought that Cecil might have some tendencies to be that way, but to find out like this…  Now he was _really_ feeling ill.  He got up from the booth, laid a couple units on the counter, grabbed a couple of energy bars for later and headed for the door, hoping to get out before Cecil came back from the kitchen.  

            "Aure Voire Monsieur!"  Matrix heard Cecil's voice from behind him as he reached for the door.  He chanced a look back and saw Cecil's screen as buoyant as before.  He felt a quick shudder tingle through him as Cecil gave him yet another wink.  "Hope to see again soon," the server stated.  

            Matrix shook his head as another shudder came over him.  He quickly walked out of the building and onto Baudway Street.  This was just too weird to comprehend.  He needed some time to think by himself.  He couldn't go back to the apartment because AndrAIa had come home sick and he didn't want to disturb her.  Not to mention the fact that she would be able to see that something was bothering him, and he didn't want to have to explain it to her.  It was just too uncomfortable to think about.  He decided to head for the Data dump to take his mind off from it.


	3. Chapter 3

            After all that bother of getting out of his uniform and finding nothing, Bob realized that he couldn't stay in the men's room forever.  He had already been given some very strange looks from a one binome that had come in earlier and caught him with his proverbial pants down.  He was going to have to face Dot sooner or later, so he mustered up all his courage and headed back into the main dining area.  

            It was empty.  Much to his surprise, the only one in the diner was Cecil.  He heaved a sigh of relief at the thought of not having to face Dot yet.  At least it would give him some time to think things through a little more.

            "Ah, bonjour Monsieur Bob!"  The greeting startled him.  In all the time he had been in Mainframe he couldn't remember a time that Cecil had actually been cordial to him.  "Table for one?" he asked with a wide grin.  Bob widened his eyes at the inquiry.

            "Actually… Cecil… I won't be staying," he replied, raising an eyebrow, "I was just looking for Matrix, have you seen him?"

            "So sorry, Monsieur," the server replied, "but you just missed him.  He left several nanos ago.  Can I perhaps get you somesing to go?"

            Bob was slightly surprised by Cecil's amicable behavior.  It certainly was a pleasant change of pace.  If Cecil was being gracious enough to offer his service, far be it from Bob to turn it down.  Who knew if this would ever happen again?

            "Uh… sure Cecil," he began, "I'll take a chocolate Double B shake."

            Coming right up, Monsieur."  Bob watched as Cecil quickly spun around and made his way to the counter.  He was humming as he filled the container.

            "You certainly seem in a good mood today," Bob stated as Cecil brought him his shake, "I take it it's been a pretty good morning for tips?"

            "Oui, Monsieur," replied the server, "among ozer sings.  Let us say zat zis day has already had its share of surprises," he said putting his hands together and winking.

            Bob thought back on his morning so far and replied, "You can say that again."  He made his way to the door and called out, "Later, Cecil."

            "Aure Voire Monsieur," he replied with a wave before watching the guardian disappear through the door.

            Bob knew that there were two places that Matrix could be.  He would either have gone to the Principal Office to help set up defenses, or he would have gone home.  Either way, neither prospect had won him over.  If he had gone home, AndrAIa was there, and he couldn't risk talking to him there.  Even if he asked Matrix to come with him somewhere, AndrAIa would be suspicious, and that would just make things more difficult.  On the other hand, if he had gone to the Principal Office, Dot would no doubt be close by, and he was still a little too shaken to face her.  Either way, it was a no win scenario.  

            Bob walked and thought for what seemed like milliseconds, oblivious to everything around him.  He had made the decision to go to Floating Point Park.  He figured it would at least be peaceful there, making it a good place to relax and think.  His mind was going in all sorts of directions at the moment and he needed to unwind a bit.

            After reaching the park, he lay down on the soft grass and gazed up at the sky.  He concentrated now on seeing shapes in the cloud formations, just as he did when he was a boy.  It always soothed him to find familiar outlines in the billowy puffs.  One took the shape of a tall ship with its sails unfurled, another resembled a null eating a ram chip, and yet another looked like Mouse standing over him looking puzzled…

            "Am I interrupting something, sugah?" the hacker said as she sat down in the grass next to Bob.

            "Mouse!"  Bob exclaimed as he shot up to a sitting position.  "You startled me."  He caught his breath and continued.  "How did you know I was here?"

            "I didn't," she replied, "I was just out and about running some errands when I saw a reflection from up there," she said as she minimized her zip board and attached it to her belt.  "I figured it was you."  Mouse continued on hesitantly, "Look, Bob… we need to talk… about this morning in the diner…" Bob's face went pale as soon as she mentioned the diner.  How basic of him!  He must have left that note right on the table.  Mouse must have found it.  A wave of panic swept over him as she spoke again.  "I saw the note… "

            "Please Mouse," he pleaded with her, "you can't tell Dot about this.  If… if she finds out about this, it… it would crush her… "

            "Bob," Mouse interrupted him, "you can't just keep Dot in the dark about this.  You have to tell her… "

            "I know Mouse, I know.  I just don't want her to be hurt by this.   How do I just tell her that someone she loves and trusts is in love with… "

            "Look Bob," she interrupted again, "she's going to be hurt worse in the long run if you keep this a secret from her.  Dot loves and trusts you more than anyone in the net, and if she found out from someone else that… "

            "You're not going to tell her, are you?" Bob almost shouted as he panicked once again.  

            "No Bob," she said crossing her arms, "that's not up to me.  I only have third party interest in this cuz I don't wanna see Dot get hurt.  You have to be the one to tell her what's going on…"

WARNING, INCOMING GAME.

WARNING, INCOMING GAME.

            The sky that once held the fluffy white clouds was now turning purple as the game cube started to descend on the city.  Bob leapt up to his feet and turned to Mouse.  "We'll have to talk about this later," he said, "I have to catch that cube."  He flew off leaving Mouse sitting in the grass.  She sighed as she watched Bob head for the cube.  She was grateful that the uncomfortable conversation had come to an end, but she had a feeling that things were about to get ugly in Mainframe.  

***

            Skuzzy was hunting for something to bring to his mistress.  Now that Megabyte was gone, he didn't have anyone to spy on for her, so he kept himself busy by finding things to bring to her as a gift.  He had already brought her some injured nulls and a few dead birds, but he was looking for something special.  Old man Pierson's Data Dump always had something interesting so he spent a lot of time digging in there now.

            He was pushing an old organizer off from a pile when he saw Frisket come barreling through.  He was lucky this time.  He was able to hide behind the pile before he was spotted.  He then peeked out from behind the pile and watched as Frisket ran toward a large familiar green sprite.

***

            Frisket spotted Matrix kicking through a pile of old motherboards.  He quickly grabbed a metal pole in his teeth hoping that his big buddy would be up for a game of fetch.  He took off at a run toward him, and upon reaching him, let out a tremendous bark.  

            Matrix jumped at the sound of the big red dog's bark combined with the sound of the metal pipe hitting the ground.  He turned around to see the big mutt happily wagging his tail.  

            "Frisket," he said as he patted the dog's head.  "Don't sneak up on me like that, boy."  Frisket wagged his tail harder and cocked his head off to the side.  He gave a small woof and picked up the pole once more, looking at Matrix with begging eyes.  "So ya wanna play, huh boy?"  Matrix replied taking the pole from the dog.  "Alright boy, go long!" he shouted as he hurled the pole as far as he could across the dump.  Frisket ran after it like a rocket.

            Matrix took a seat on the hood of a dismantled CPU and watched as Frisket came running back, pole in his mouth.  He was glad to see the big mutt.  Frisket could always take his mind off things without making him talk about it.  He was starting to feel better now after the incident at Dot's.  Just thinking about that gave him the jaggies, and he shuddered once more.

            Frisket bounced his way back to Matrix and dropped the pole at his feet.  Matrix seemed to be lost in a thought so he not so gently nudged the big guy's hand.  He smelled something in it, so he persisted in an investigation, nudging and sniffing some more.

            "What is it, boy?" Matrix said as he noticed the dog taking an interest in his hand.  "Oh, this," he said as he opened it, exposing the crumpled piece of paper.  Frisket kept sniffing.  "You want it?  You can have it."

            Frisket wasn't sure what to make of the offering, but his master seemed to want him to have it.  So he sniffed at it some more before picking it up carefully in his teeth.  He wasn't sure what he was going to do with it, but he wagged his tail with delight when Matrix patted him on the head and grinned at the dog's confusion.

            "Shhh… " Matrix whispered as a scuffling noise could be heard from behind one of the piles.  "Look over there, boy," he said pointing to the small, round, cat like being trying to keep hidden from sight.  The dog had already turned his attention in that direction.  His ears were fully raised and a gentle growling could be heard.  Matrix grinned as he spoke softly to the dog.  "You want to play with Skuzzy?" he said as Frisket readied himself for the chase.  He let go of the dog's collar and yelled, "Go get him, boy!"

            When Skuzzy saw the huge red dog heading straight for him, he quickly scurried to the other side of the pile hoping to avoid him.  He was just about to make it to the other side, but the big brute was already there, snarling and drooling on him.  Frozen with fear and shaking uncontrollably, he watched as Frisket stood still for a nano, growling softly.  It was an intimidation tactic, one that worked like a charm every time.

            At the height of the poor creature's tension, Frisket let out a horrific bark, causing Skuzzy to jump.  The note, which was still in the dog's mouth and now wet with drool, fell out and stuck to the viral cat's head as he rolled away from the giant beast as fast as he could.  Frisket paused for a brief nano and let him have a small head start before he gave chase.

            Matrix watched with a grin as Frisket ran one way, and then another, chasing the feline.  He was just about to catch him when Skuzzy spotted the hole in the fence that he came in through.  He quickly rolled through to safety as Frisket, still in hot pursuit, hit the fence with his nose.  Matrix grimaced a little, hearing a short yipe from his dog, but grinned again upon seeing the dog shake it off and come back to him.

            Frisket was panting pretty hard from the exercise when Matrix patted him on the back.  "You'll get him next time, won't ya boy?" he said as Frisket looked up at him lovingly.  Matrix felt much better now and decided to chance going home, until he heard a familiar voice from above.

WARNING, INCOMING GAME…


	4. Chapter 4

***

            It took Skuzzy nearly a millisecond to get back to Lost Angles.  His little heart was still pounding from rolling as fast as he could and not looking back.  Now that he had reached the lair, he felt a little more at ease.  The big red dog hardly ever came to Lost Angles so he was relatively safe for now.  He rolled into the lair to see his mistress busily painting on a canvas.  Without taking her attention from the painting she spoke to her familiar. 

            "Skuzzy," she said with a wicked grin, "how nice of you to join me."  Her face quickly changed to a scowl as she turned to face him.  "Just where have you been?"

            Skuzzy shook a bit at her stern voice and showed her a visual playback of his explanation from the vid screen on his head.  Hexadecimal looked down trying to see his excuse, but something was blocking her view.

            "Skuzzy!" she scolded.  "How many times do I have to tell you not to communicate with your screen blocked?  I can't understand a frame you're saying!"   She reached down to remove the small piece of paper that was sticking to the little viral's head.  She looked at it with intrigue.  "Well now, what do we have here?"  It was a little sticky and some of the ink had run, but there was still a legible message on it.  She read the words out loud.  "I am not able to speak in words, so I'm writing this to tell you how I feel… Skuzzy," she continued, "did you write this for me?  How touching." She said with a smile.

            Skuzzy shook his head no and made a few squeaking noises as he rewound a playback of how he had gotten the note.  Hexadecimal watched curiously as she saw the large, smiling Matrix boy in the screen handing a piece of paper to his dog.  He seemed to speak to him for a nano, and then pointing in Skuzzy's direction, he sent the dog off.  It looked as if he was telling the dog to deliver the message.  "Ooh!" Hex exclaimed, "I wonder what he wanted to tell me."  She looked down and read the rest of the note enthusiastically.  "My temperature is rising and I feel like I'm on fire… ooh fire's good," she said as a luxurious parlor chair appeared behind her with a wave of an elegant hand.  She sat down and stretched her lean figure out dramatically as she continued to read.  "I need you now or this fire will consume me.  Please help me to put out these flames.  I will surely delete without you."  She finished with an outrageous cackle.  "Oh how utterly romantic!" she exclaimed.  "I had absolutely no idea the boy felt this way.  Isn't this the most precious thing you've ever heard of, Skuzzy?"

            Skuzzy whirled around on his ball clicking and buzzing in exasperation.  He tried to show her again how that big, red beast stood there intimidating him, and then barked at him for no reason.  Hex looked down once again to see a muted video of Frisket opening his mouth and giving Skuzzy the note.  He replayed his quick escape from the monster by going through the fence, but all she saw was Skuzzy running home quickly like a good little messenger.  No matter how hard he tried, his mistress didn't seem to pay any attention to the fact that the ferocious beast had attacked him mercilessly.  His frustration was becoming more and more evident the more he played it back, desperately wanting for her to understand his fear of the horrible dog. She didn't understand what he was trying to tell her.  His longing for her attention, however, did not go unnoticed. 

            "You know Skuzzy," she frowned as she spoke, "without my dear brother around for you to spy on for me, you've become very clingy, always wanting praise for this or that."  Her face displayed a scowl as she continued.  "It's not very becoming of a viral, now is it?"  Skuzzy shook slightly as his mistress scolded him.  Hexadecimal stood back up from her reclined position on the lounge and began addressing him again.  "I've been thinking that maybe you need a playmate to keep you occupied."  Her face now turned to a very saddened expression.  "It worries me when you behave like this."  Skuzzy rolled his eyes and let out a sigh.  "I've taken the liberty of sending that Tracer fellow out into the net to find one for you," she continued, "since we can't have you moping about every cycle."

            Skuzzy was beginning to give up hope that Hex would ever understand just exactly what he meant every time he communicated with her.  There wasn't much he could do about it right now though, so he slowly made his way to his little bed next to his mistress' throne, and with a dramatic sigh, he turned around three times and settled into it.  The next time he went to the data dump, if he was lucky enough to avoid Frisket, he was going to look for a sound card.  

            Hex watched as her familiar dejectedly rolled himself into his bed.  The poor little thing just had nothing to do any more and it was starting to get to him.  She was hoping that his new playmate would arrive soon.  Maybe that would take care of some of the boredom and frustration he was suffering.  But now was not the time to be thinking of that.  She had something more fun to concentrate on now.  She turned her attention back to the note that her pet had brought to her.  A wicked smile came over her as she thought; _now I have two guardians to play with.  _

            The Matrix boy was certainly a handsome catch, not as lovely as her prized blue guardian, but not bad either.  She was almost certain that he would never turn away from that water sprite.  But then again, when one compared, the poor girl really didn't have much of a chance did she? She was a bit of a tomboy and was much too skinny. It was too bad really; Hex had grown rather fond of the girl.  She always spoke her mind but remained respectful.  It was an appealing quality for someone to have, but still not likely to be enough to keep a man happy.  It almost made her feel sad for her.

            Hex was now in a state of bliss just thinking of all the fun she could have with this.  She sat back regally on her throne and cast her eyes to her looking glass, where she saw the figure of the web surfer silhouetted against the purple game cube behind him.  He was on his way to Lost Angles with a delivery.  She had to admit this new sprite in Mainframe was also very handsome, and from what she had seen, he could be quite the flirt as well.  A malicious grin came over her face as her newfound sense of humor came up with a wickedly sinful idea.  What was that phrase that she had heard some time ago?  Share the joy?

***

            The user was on his last life of the game.  Bob and Matrix had successfully managed to delete him four times before getting this far.  Now on the last level, they were dodging a barrage of gunfire meant to keep them from getting to the vault where the Crown Jewels were kept.  They crouched behind a heavy steel desk as bullets could be heard ricocheting off its surface.  They were taking turns returning the users fire while the other would reload, but now they were running low on ammunition, and the user didn't seem to be slowing down.  He was across the large room from them now taking cover behind a steel file cabinet.  They had him at bay for the nano, but just how long it would last they had no idea.  

            "He can't move without getting hit by one of us now," Matrix stated as a zing was heard just to the right of his head, "he has no more cover to the vault.  He's just going to try to pick us off or make us use up our ammo."  

            "You're right." Bob replied as another bullet hit the desk in front of them, "You'll have to cover me while I make it to the vault… "

            "Bob," Matrix said almost inaudibly as yet another bullet just missed Bob's ear, "I'm closer to the vault.  I'll go.  You cover me.  On my count, one… "

            "Wait!"  Bob shouted as the desk deflected another shot.  "Let him use up some of his ammo first.  He's unloading it too fast right now to make it to the vault.  We'll have a better chance when he gets low and starts reserving it a little."  Another round whizzed over their heads.

            "So what are we supposed to do, just sit here and let him fire at us?"  Matrix had to yell loudly enough for Bob to hear him over the sound of the shots ringing through the room.  It was amazing how one user could turn this place into what sounded like a war zone.  

            "For now, yes."  Bob replied, just barely missing taking a round in the shoulder.  He crept in closer behind the desk for more cover.  "He's really letting loose right now.  It's better to just wait it out a bit."  Bob was getting mildly annoyed with this user.  It seemed that he was getting an unlimited supply of ammunition from somewhere.  He knew that he could find more ammo on the previous levels and he seemed to have collected it all by the sounds of it.  But pinned where he was, there was no way for him to get more on this level and he had to run low sometime.  He knew patience was the only way to win this game, but his patience was wearing thin.  "Just when I thought this cycle couldn't get any worse," he thought out loud.

            "You think you had a bad day?"  Matrix surprised Bob as he replied.  "I'd rather be dodging bullets than go through this morning again."  He shuddered slightly at the memory.

            Bob gave Matrix a perplexed look as one of the user's rounds hit the floor to the left of his hand.  He jumped a little to the side and asked, "Why?  What happened this morning?"

            Matrix let out a breath and replied, "I was given a rather disturbing note."  He ducked quickly as another bullet zinged over the top of his head.  "It really off lined me for a while this morning."

            "A note?"  Bob looked as if he had seen a ghost.  Did Matrix know about AndrAIa's feelings?  He froze in place for a nano and would have taken a bullet to the shoulder if Matrix hadn't pulled him out of the line of fire just in time.  

            "Bob, are you ok?"  Matrix asked, concerned about his friend's sudden lapse of awareness.  "You almost lost your arm there.  What's wrong?"

            "Uh… nothing," he replied a little louder than he probably should have.  There was definitely something wrong here.  Matrix had seen the note but seemed to be taking it rather well.  "What do you mean by disturbing?" he asked, hoping that it wasn't what he was thinking and that it was something altogether different.  

            Matrix once again shuddered as the memory of Cecil's winking crept into his processor.  "It was sort of a love note I guess," he replied, "the really steamy kind.  Lots of I'm burning for you type stuff."  He shuddered again.  "I have to admit, it really bothered me when I figured out who wrote it."  Matrix peeked out from behind the desk and fired a round at the user, hoping to draw some more of his fire.

            Bob was starting to turn pale.  From what Matrix had said, it was certainly the same note.  There were so many questions that he wanted to ask him, but he wasn't sure how to approach the issue now.  He had no idea of whether or not Matrix knew whom the note was written for and he didn't want to push his luck, especially in the middle of a game.  "What do you think AndrAIa will do when she finds out that you… " He was cut off by a bullet that just missed the top of his head.  He quickly raised his weapon over the top of the desk and shot another round at the user.

            "She'll probably just laugh and tell me to forget about it like she usually does."  Matrix replied.  He knew that Andi would more than likely get a kick out of the fact that Cecil was now in love with him.  "She'll tell me it's no big file and that I should just get over it and learn to live with it."  Matrix leaned over to the side of the desk and drew out some more rounds from the user with his gun.  "I'm not sure that I can this time though."

            "Get over it?"  Bob said as he let out another round and quickly dodged an incoming shot from the user.  He ducked behind the desk and looked at Matrix with a shocked expression.  Matrix was still firing at the user getting him to use up more of his ammunition.  This probably wasn't the best place to be discussing this but now he was really intrigued by his reaction to all of this.

            "Yeah, but what else can I do?" Matrix replied as he ducked back down narrowly avoiding being hit.  "It's not like it'll effect Andi and me in any way, it's just creepy y'know?"  Matrix leaned back out and began to shoot at the user.  

            Bob was utterly floored by his reaction.  He knew Matrix had mellowed out some since returning to Mainframe, but to be this calm about everything was really disturbing on so many levels.  How could he just get over AndrAIa writing a steamy love note to someone else?  Was he in denial?  Was he going to explode into a rage when it really hit him what was going on?  Bob was suddenly very uncomfortable.  It seemed the room they were in was getting warmer.  He didn't know what to say to Matrix at the moment and decided to concentrate on just getting out of this game.  

            "The user's fire is slowing down."  Matrix called to Bob.  "I think I can make it to the vault now if you cover me."

            Bob looked over to Matrix who was crouched at the corner of the desk getting ready to make his move.  "Alright," Bob said as he readied his gun and took aim at the user.  "I'm on it.  Go!"

            Matrix raced out as Bob fired several rounds at the user, hoping to keep him down until Matrix could reach the vault.  The user had his hands full as he tried to take aim at Matrix and avoid the shot's from Bob at the same time.  Just as he got a chance to take aim at Matrix, it was too late.  He reached the vault, and a familiar voice from above announced, Game Over.  The simulated world they were in disappeared around them as the cube ascended back into the sky and they found themselves in the middle of Wall Street sector.  Bob got up from his crouched position behind a shrub and looked over to Matrix who was already walking toward him.  

            "Glad that's over," Matrix said wiping his brow with his forearm, "Want to go and get a shake at Al's?"

            "Uh… " Bob wasn't sure how to react to the offer.  He wanted badly to find out just how he had gotten the note and who had given it to him, but he didn't want to seem to be prying for information either.  He didn't think that Mouse would ever go behind his back and do something like that, but he couldn't be sure.  "Not today," he replied, "I'm not really feeling all that well right now.  I think I'm just going to go home and rest for a little bit."  He needed to think things through again.  He was more confused now after talking to Matrix than he was before.

            "Alright," Matrix said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.  "I hope you're not coming down with the same thing Andi has."  

            Bob paused for a nano after lifting himself off the ground, preparing to fly off.  "I hope so too," he replied.  "I'll talk to you later Matrix."  

Matrix watched as Bob headed toward Kits sector.  "Later."  He shouted back to the guardian.  Bob was acting strange for some reason.  He couldn't quite put his finger on the reason why.  Maybe it was just because he wasn't feeling well.  This had been some day already.  First AndrAIa was sick, now Bob.  Cecil sure wasn't acting like himself.  It seemed that there was some kind of bug going around Mainframe.  Things were just getting too weird.  All he could do as he zipped home was hope that everything would be back to normal soon.  


	5. Chapter 5

Ray Tracer cautiously entered Lost Angles. He wasn't sure what it was about the place that made him more nervous, its one viral resident, or the way it seemed to turn you upside down at the drop of a hat. No place in the web could have surprised him as much as this place. Even data storms were more predictable than the twists and turns of the island. As much as Bob had warned him of all the screwy things that can happen here, he had to admit that he was still unprepared the first time he arrived. He had ended up upside down and headed in the wrong direction three times before he reached the lair. This time, he decided to take an alternate route to the tower and avoid it happening again. 

He was hovering now at the end of the bridge holding a small carrier in his hand trying to decide which would be the best route to continue on. He wasn't too optimistic about reaching the lair at a head on course, so he banked the baud off to the left and decided to go up the western shoreline until he was closer to the lair. He sped off, all the while clinging to the little box when he realized that he was now upside down and headed back toward the bridge. The baud quickly righted itself and caught the surfer before he hit the ground. _Well, that didn't work,_ he thought to himself. Maybe the eastern shoreline would be a bit safer. He banked to the right this time and to his surprise he reached the entrance to the lair without a hitch. He headed inside and realized now that he was once again upside down and on the western shore somewhere. 

Ray paused for a nano after righting himself again and took a look around to see where the lair was this time. _Spam this place,_ he thought. How in the net did this keep happening? Now it seemed that he was behind the lair. 

A few clicking and whirring noises drew his attention to the small box in his hands. Skuzzy's new playmate was desperate to get out and he really couldn't blame him. Even if it had been a short trip through the net for Ray, it was a terribly long trip for the poor little animal stuck in the carrier. He wanted to get him inside the lair so he could take him out of the box and let him stretch his little legs. He didn't want to admit it, but he thought the little guy was cute and he was quickly becoming attached to it. 

"Hang in there just a bit longer mate," he said gently, "we're almost there. Just have to figure a way in." The little creature cooed as if in agreement and curled up in the little box. If he knew how Mouse would react to having one of these little guys around, he would have taken one for himself in a heartbeat. 

"Well, let's try this again, shall we?" He said as he turned the baud toward the lair once more. He approached more cautiously and slowly this time. About half way to the tower Ray could feel the baud fall from beneath his feet as a giant sinkhole appeared under him. He looked down to see himself and the baud plummeting into what looked like a tunnel that twisted and turned in all directions. They sped this way and that at a heart-stopping pace, going faster and faster. Just as they reached the end of the tunnel, the baud stopped and caught the surfer before he slid across the large room he was now in. He looked up and took notice that he was finally inside the lair.

"Oh look Skuzzy," came a voice from somewhere in the shadows, "we have a visitor. And a handsome one too." Hexadecimal stepped out of the darkness and sashayed her way down the staircase, Skuzzy following close behind her. "How lovely to see you Mr. Tracer." Her face turned to a scowl. "Did you bring what I asked for?" 

"Got it right here, lovely lady." He said with a smile as he handed her the carrier. "I think you'll find this little guy suitable for your needs." Hexadecimal took the carrier from the surfer gingerly and looked inside. 

"My, what an interesting creature," she said as she opened the lid. "What exactly… is it?" She pulled the small creature out and held it in her one hand. It was small and white and had some kind of long antennas for ears. It's nose seemed to have a life of it's own, bobbing up and down in time to an unheard rhythm. The tail however was the silliest thing she had ever seen. It was perfectly round and fluffy. Nothing in Mainframe had ever been similar. It also seemed to have little speakers in its cheeks. 

"It's a chatterabBit." The surfer replied. "When he gets a little older, he'll be able to play audio playbacks of things to communicate. He's just a baby now. A woman in the Telnet system had a whole litter of these things. Cute little fellas." He reached over and petted the yawning animal in her hand. Hex lifted it a bit for a closer inspection. It cooed and chirped at its new mistress, obviously very comfortable with its location. 

Skuzzy whirled and squeaked on the floor wanting a closer look at this new playmate of his. He was curious to see what it was, but more importantly, what it could do. It had speakers. Could it maybe help translate for him? Skuzzy was optimistic for once that maybe this wasn't such a bad idea. He clicked and chirped hoping to get his mistress' attention. 

"Now now Skuzzy," she said as she set the creature on the floor with him, "don't frighten the poor dear." She smiled at Skuzzy's reaction to his new playmate. He cautiously approached the animal and placed his nose almost touching the chatterabBit. He sniffed a little bit, and when he was satisfied that this was a suitable playmate, he turned his eyes to Hex and seemed to smile. The creature sat there intrigued by this round animal that was checking him out. They clicked and chirped at each other in what sounded like a conversation. 

While their mistress and the surfer discussed business, Skuzzy approached his new playmate in hopes of maybe playing. The bunny was almost asleep when he felt a nudge in his side. He immediately opened his large mouth and produced a set of long sharp teeth and made a terrible growling sound causing Skuzzy to roll back a bit. What in the net was that? The bunny's eyes turned a glowing red and the fangs appeared again, this time much closer than before. The rabbit lunged at Skuzzy as he rolled away for his life.

"Oh look!" Hex put her hands together near her face and smiled. "They're playing! How very marvelous." 

Skuzzy couldn't seem to get away from his new playmate. It was smaller than him so any little nook or cranny that he could hide in, the rabbit was sure to follow him. He tried desperately to show his mistress the fangs of the animal in his little vid screen, but he had to roll so fast that he couldn't get her to see it. She stood there smiling and laughing at what she considered a game of tag. 

Hex turned her attention once again to the surfer. She placed an elegant hand on his arm and seductively dragged a slender finger down the length of it. "Now Mr. Tracer, shall we discuss… payment?" 

Ray made a slight gulp and shifted uncomfortably as Hex moved closer to him. He backed up slightly as her hand moved from his arm to his chest. "Um… no payment necessary actually," he stammered out, "the lady was just giving them away." 

Hex was still advancing on the surfer and he was still trying to back away. He was managing to maintain a small distance between them until he bumped into the lounge that she had been reclining in earlier, and lost his balance only to fall back onto it. Hex took advantage of his misfortune and straddled his lap, causing his eyes to widen under his goggles. "Oh, but I insist," she said as she leaned closer to him, "there must be some way I can repay your kindness." She batted her eyelashes at him suggestively. This was going to be more fun than she thought it would be. 

"Uh… no! No, really," he stuttered, trying to creep out from under her, "there's no need. Just… just consider it a favor." He squirmed awkwardly. If he'd had any idea that this was going to happen, he wouldn't have done this for her. Mouse had tried to warn him that she could be a little unstable and to watch out for her mood shifts, but this was more than he bargained for.

"Really now Ray… I can call you Ray can't I? It's so much more… intimate." She batted her eyes again for effect. "You don't have to be so shy, dear boy. After all, one good favor deserves another, don't you think?" She trailed a long fingernail down the side of his cheek causing him to blush. She delighted in the tension she was causing.

"Look… Hex… I really have to be going," he said as he tried to sit up and gently move her off his lap, "It's been a pleasure seeing you again…" he was cut off short by her placing a finger on his lips. 

"But you just got here." She displayed a sad face. "Surely you have time for a little tea," she said, "there's always time for tea," she said as she waved her hand slightly and a small café table and two chairs appeared, complete with teapot and cups. To Ray's relief she slid off his lap and began to pour the tea. He got up from the lounge and moved away from it, determined to not let that happen again. He quickly scanned the room for the closest exit, but to his surprise, he couldn't see any exit at all. It was obvious that she wasn't going to make this easy on him. "Now come and sit down and have some tea." She said beaming at him.

Ray moved farther from the table, the baud gliding just next to him. "I'd love to stay, but I have to…" he was interrupted this time by being lifted off the floor and thrown into the seat across from Hex. 

She scowled at his attempted excuse. "I said, sit down." Her expression changed again to a smile. "Now, one lump or two?" she asked. She was having so much fun now that she didn't want it to end. She had never really played a prank on anyone before and she was realizing that it was hard to hold a straight face. She wasn't sure if anyone else would ever think it was funny, she just knew that it was funny to her and that was all that mattered. 

Ray was starting to panic. There didn't seem to be any way to get out of this without offending her, and that was certainly something that he didn't need. He smiled at her, knowing that for now he was defeated. He let out a small sigh and simply said, "Two lumps, please."

***

AndrAIa had been lying in bed most of the morning. When she made the excuse that she didn't feel well, she didn't figure on actually not feeling well once she got home, but here she was, feeling miserable. She knew that it was her nerves. Her head was pounding and she was a bit queasy. If she ate anything at the moment, she had the notion that it would just come back up again. Of all the games and systems that she and Matrix had been through, of all the dangers that they faced, this was still the hardest thing that she would ever have to do. She would have to hurt a friend's feelings, and she was not looking forward to it. A little crush, like Enzo's, she could handle, but not when it was something this deep. The note Phong wrote had said it all so passionately. If only she hadn't lost it. 

As she was walking out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, she saw the front door open and Matrix walk in. He wasn't exactly smiling, but at least he wasn't scowling either. She took this as a good sign. "Hey lover," she said weakly, "how was the game?"

"Not bad, if you like being target practice for the user." He replied with a half grin. "Feeling any better?" he asked.

"My stomach is still a little queasy, but I'll make it I guess." She opened the fridge and pulled out a container of juice and poured herself a glass. "Want some juice while I have it out?" she inquired.

"No thanks," he replied, "I got a shake from Al's on the way home."

"Al's?" she asked. "That's a little out of the way to be on your way home. Why didn't you stop at Dot's?"

"Wasn't really up to it I guess," he replied setting Gun down on the table.

"You mean you were thinking about something, don't you?" she said knowing that she was right. He always went for long zips when he had to think about something, usually ending up at Al's, and it wasn't for the shakes. "What's wrong?"

_Here we go_, Matrix thought. The questions were about to start. Even when she was sick she could read him. "Nothing really, just got something that was a little disturbing, that's all." He shuddered once more thinking about it. "I got this note this morning… " AndrAIa dropped her glass of juice on the floor, shattering it and spraying juice all over. She looked very pale again all of a sudden. She even looked like she was shaking. "Andi, are you ok?" he said as he rushed to her side, stepping on the shards of glass and crunching them with his boots. He took her by the arm and carefully helped her to a chair and sat her down.

AndrAIa sat there for a moment, not knowing what to say. It couldn't have been the same note, could it? She concentrated on breathing deeply for a nano to calm herself before asking, "What note?"

Matrix was already down on the floor picking up the larger shards of broken glass. "It was sort of a love note I guess you could say. Really mushy. Lots of fire in it." He glanced over his shoulder to see her shaking slightly and getting paler. "Maybe you should go lie back down for a while. You really don't look too well."

"I think I will in a nano here." She said trying to catch her breath. It was the same note. It had to be. How many notes could there be like Phong's? "Did you find out who it was from?" she asked.

"Yeah I did," he replied grimacing slightly, "and I have to admit, it's giving me the jaggies. I've known that old guy all my life, and I never suspected that he was capable of this."

"Well, at least you know now." She said handing him the dishtowel from the table to wipe up the juice. "I found out about it this morning and I wasn't sure how to tell you. I'm glad you're taking it so well. I'm not sure how well I'm taking it though." She said with a slight shudder. "What do you think we should do about it?"

"There's not really much we can do is there?" he said mopping up the last of the juice with the dishtowel. "Maybe if we talk to Dot about it, I mean, she works with him everyday, she might be able to… "

"No," AndrAia stated firmly, "we can't involve Dot in this. The only thing that would do is humiliate him. He's used to running the place by himself and if you have Dot talk to him about it, he might feel patronized. She may be his boss, but… "

"I see your point," he said taking a seat across from her. If Dot got involved in this, Cecil would see it as hostility and become even more unbearable. "You're right, as usual." He said with a grin. He was a little surprised that she hadn't been laughing about it this whole time. She was taking it rather seriously and that wasn't generally like her. He figured it was probably that bug she had that was causing it. She still didn't look very well. "You should probably go lie back down for a while now," he said as he took her hand in his, "no offense but you look like deletion warmed over." He gave her sympathetic grin.

"Thanks a lot," she replied tossing the juice soaked dishtowel in his face, "but I have to admit you're probably right." She took his other hand in hers and looked in his eyes. "I'm glad we were able to talk about this," she said as she stroked his hands with her fingers, "I was afraid that if you found out about this, you'd be angry."

"Well, it made me really uncomfortable at first," he said with shudder, "but we'll get through this." He kissed her hand and helped her up from the chair. AndrAia put her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug.

"I know we will," she said as she embraced him, "there's not a doubt in my mind we will." It was amazing how much he had changed since coming home to Mainframe. While they were in the games and the web, he was so moody and there were so many miscommunications and arguments. But now it was like he had really grown as a person, and the lines of communication were really opening up. For the first time since they were children, AndrAIa felt that Matrix truly understood her.


	6. Chapter 6

            "Care for another biscuit?" Hexadecimal grinned wildly as she held up a tray for the surfer.  "I made them myself."  

            Ray shook his head no.  He had been here for over a millisecond and his patience with the virus was wearing thin.  He sighed and gave her a pleading look. "Look… Hexadecimal… it was really nice having tea with you, but I really have to get going."

            Hex exhibited another sad face and pouted.  "Oh, but I still haven't repaid you for your kindness," she replied.  "I have an idea," she said as her face lit up, "I can read you some poetry."  She raised her hand and the table went flying from between them and across the room.  She produced the note from out of nowhere and held it in her hand, standing in front of Ray, who was now more than a little nervous.   She began to circle him as she dramatically read excerpts from it.  "My temperature is rising and I feel like I'm on fire.  I need you now or this fire will consume me."  Ray was beginning to sweat as she laid a fingernail on his shoulder and ran it around his neck to the other shoulder as she walked around him.  "I'm burning so very deep inside of me.  Please help me to put out these flames."  She put her hand to her forehead theatrically and sat herself down in the surfers lap and concluded seductively; "I will surely delete without you."  She quickly threw her arm around him and kissed him, shocking him enough so that he didn't notice her slipping the note into his belt.  _That aught to keep the hacker on her toes,_ she thought to herself as she laughed inwardly.  What a delightful little mess she was making.  

            Ray broke off the kiss by leaning as far back as he could and gently pushing Hex back.  He couldn't believe this was happening.  He had assured Mouse earlier that no matter what Hex did he could handle it.  But he had never expected her to come on this strongly towards him.  Now breathing heavily and utterly flabbergasted, he quickly stood up as she got off his lap and amused herself with his reaction.  He was having a hard time finding his voice but he finally managed to squeak a response out as she stood there smiling at him.  "As flattering… as this is, I really need to leave Hex."  He panted as he continued.  "Could you please open a door?"

            "Oh dear," she frowned, "I'm only being hospitable.  No need to make such a fuss about it."  She nodded her head back and let out a deep sigh.  "But if you insist on leaving," she gave a slight wave of her hand and a door appeared behind him, "then by all means, I won't keep you here any longer."  She made a fluid motion with her hand again and this time the surfer was thrown out the door with his baud following closely behind him.  She walked to the door and called out one final time, "And give the hacker my regards, won't you deary?"  

As she watched the surfer fly off through the air she began to laugh maniacally.  Who knew that playing a little joke could be so much fun?  Things would certainly get interesting once the hacker found that note on him, which she was sure to.  From what she had gathered, they hardly spent a moment apart when he was in town.  This would certainly cause a little stir for them, nothing too harmful, just a bit of a tiff.  They'd eventually get over it.  They might even be closer in the end for it.  All she knew was that it made her laugh to think about it.  Oh to be able to be a fly on the wall that night.  She laughed again at the thought.

Hex turned around to find Skuzzy at her feet.  She didn't see his new playmate with him and began to look over the lair to locate the little one.  "Skuzzy," she said looking slightly concerned, "Where is your new friend?"  Skuzzy rolled around in circles making chirping and clicking noises, looking very distraught.  "Oh don't be so melodramatic," she scolded, "what is it?"  He rewound a video play back and displayed it for her showing the little chatterabBit fast asleep in Skuzzy's bed.  "Oh, isn't that precious?  He's getting very comfortable here, don't you think Skuzzy?"

Skuzzy continued to click and buzz as he followed her to her easel, where she sat back down and started to paint again.  It was to no avail though.  She hummed to herself and occasionally started to laugh again as she thought about what she had just done and wasn't paying attention.  He rolled up close to her feet and decided that it would do no more good to try to convince her that his new playmate was homicidal.

"You've had quite the day already, haven't you Skuzzy?" she said glancing down at the worried feline, "playing in the dump, delivering messages, and now a new friend." She sighed contentedly and lifted a finger gracefully so that the little viral creature was lifted into her lap.  She gently petted him and his worries seemed to vanish that instant.  She may not have been the most observant virus he had ever seen or the most compassionate, but he could always count on his mistress loving him.  He yawned and spun himself around a couple of times and drifted off to sleep in her lap, content just to be with her.  That was all that really mattered to him.

***

            Dot was headed back to the diner after her long morning at the Principal Office.  Her duties as Command.com of the system took a lot of energy out of her, and it was nice to be able to have a chance to recharge and get a fresh outlook for the second half of the cycle.  An energy shake or two usually could set her mind straight.  She hadn't seen Mouse all day since their brief conversation in the morning and was starting to worry about what could have happened to make her so distant.  She was hoping to catch up with her still that day and have a talk.  They may have worked together for a while now, but the friendship that she and Mouse had shared during the war seemed to be slipping away for some reason.  They hardly ever talked any more.  She knew in her heart that Mouse would always be there for her through thick and thin, but she still felt that it was high time that they touched base again.  Maybe it was time for a girl's night out.

            As these thoughts were going through her head, she began to hear something coming from behind her. It was a faint sound and wasn't anything that she could make out at first.  She paused for a nano to listen and turned around slowly only to see something coming at her with tremendous speed.  She couldn't move in time to avoid it and before she knew it she was on the pavement with her files scattered all around her on the ground.  She shook her head a little and tried to move, but another jolt told her that whatever had hit her was just hit by something else.  She opened her eyes slowly not knowing what to expect.  

            "Dot!" she heard the surfers voice as the weight holding her down was lifted, "are you alright?"  As the light hit she realized that it was the baud.  Ray must have been the second jolt that hit her.  "Sorry about that love," he said as he took her hand and helped her up off the pavement, "I tried to regain control before I hit something, but I guess Hex is a lot more powerful than I gave her credit for.  Are you alright?" he asked again.  

            Dot was still trying to figure out what had just happened and shook her head a bit to clear the fog.  "I think so… nothing seems to be broken.  What happened?"  

            "Let's just say that I severely underestimated the old girl." He replied with a smirk.  "I had no idea that she could throw that far."  He looked around at all the files that were now strewn all over the sidewalk.  "I am so sorry for this, let me help you pick all of this up."

            "Thanks Ray," she was finally able to smile a little, "I take it it went well with Hexadecimal," she said as they stooped down and started to pick up her files, "you're still in one piece.  That's generally a good thing."  

            Ray had to chuckle at her remark. "I have to agree with you there, love," he quipped, "that is one crazy virus, I don't mind saying."  He continued picking up files and spreadsheets, and unbeknownst to him, the note that had fallen out of his belt in the collision with Dot.  He scooped them all up and made a neat little stack out of them and handed them to her as she completed making a stack out of the files that she had picked up.  "There you are lovely lady," he said with a grin, "all safe and sound."

            "Thanks Ray." She said as she took the stack from him.  "Care to join me at the diner for some lunch?  You could probably use the break after having to deal with Hexadecimal today."

            Ray smiled and looked at her apologetically, "As appealing as that sounds, I'm afraid I can't."  He breathed out a sigh as he continued.  "There's something I have to talk about with Mouse."  After what happened at the lair earlier that day, he had never wanted to see her more.  It made him appreciate just what he and Mouse had together and realize how much he really cared about her.  "You wouldn't happen to know where she is would you?"

            It was Dot's turn for the apologetic smile now.  "Sorry, I haven't seen much of her at all today.  The last I saw her was at the diner this morning."  She giggled as she continued; "I swear sometimes that I need to put a tracker on her."

            Ray chuckled at this.  "Well," he said with a grin, "it looks like I'll be going on a Mouse hunt then."  He set the baud to his side, allowing it float gracefully next to him.  "I'll take a rain check on that lunch though," he said with a wide smile, "that is, if you don't mind."

            "Of course I don't mind," she smiled back and then gave a mock sigh of disappointment, "but now it looks like I have to have lunch all by myself, since I can't find Bob and Enzo is still at school."  She laughed slightly, then looked at him almost pleadingly, "Are you sure you won't reconsider?"

            "There's nothing I'd like more than to oblige you love," he said placing a foot on the baud and leaning slightly, "but I'm afraid that I really need to find her."

            Dot raised an eyebrow quizzically and smiled.  "It's that important, huh?"  She had a feeling as to what it might be, and far be it from her to stand in their way.  

            Ray thought for a moment and answered, "Let's just say that there is something that I haven't told her yet and I think it's high time that she knew."

            Dot gave him a knowing nod and smiled.  "Well, I definitely can't argue with that," she said, hoisting the stack of files slightly as they became heavier in her arms, "it's a rain check then."  

            Ray nodded and took hold of Dot's free hand in his and raised it to his lips and kissed it, causing Dot to giggle and blush slightly. "Till we meet again pretty lady."  He stepped up onto the baud and bowed theatrically to her.  

            Dot had to laugh at his eccentricity.  "So long Ray."  She watched as he gave her a wink and turned the baud around and headed toward the Principal Office.  She had to admit that he was certainly the charmer.  She could see why Mouse was so taken with him and was happy that they had found each other.  Maybe this 'talk' with Ray would bring her out of that funk that she seemed to be in that morning.  Maybe that was what was bothering her.  Maybe she was getting to the point where she wanted more than the casual relationship that she insisted she was comfortable with.  It could be that Mouse was truly falling for the surfer and just couldn't bring herself to tell him.  Dot hoped for Mouse's sake that was the reason.  But while she walked to the diner, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more in the works.  She shook her head and pushed the thoughts out of her mind and decided to concentrate on something else before thinking about it drove her mad.   Although she wished them both the best, it wasn't her relationship to deal with after all.

            Dot entered the diner and went to her regular booth and laid the files down on the table.  She turned around and called out to her dedicated server before she began the task of sorting through the jumbled mess.  "Hey Cecil, would you mind getting me an energy shake real quick?" she hesitated to ask.  The lunch crowd was already pouring in and she knew that he would be swamped with orders soon.  "I'd get it myself, but I have my hands a little full with these spreadsheets."  She gave him an apologetic look.

            "Of course, Madame," he replied with a smile, "coming right up, tuit suite."  He headed off to get the shake as she sat down in the booth and began to rummage through all the documents that were recently strewn on the sidewalk near Baudway.  It might have looked like a neat pile but it was a mess.  None of the files were in order and sorting through it was going to be a task and a half.  She began making separate piles for each of the data files that they belonged to.  Within nanos, she was lost in the chore and almost didn't hear Cecil behind her bringing her the shake.  "Here you are Madame," he stated as he set the container in between a couple of file stacks, "Just ze way you like it."

            "Thank you Cecil," she replied before taking a sip and continuing the job at hand.  She was over half way through the original pile when a small piece of paper bounced out from between two spreadsheets and caught her attention.  She didn't remember putting anything that small in any of the files.  She picked it up and began to inspect it, noticing that it was hand written.  Had she written herself some kind of reminder and forgot about it?  No, she never did that because she never forgot anything when it came to her spreadsheets.  It wasn't her handwriting either.  She put on her glasses for a closer inspection and began to read it to herself.  _I am not able to speak on words, so I am writing this to tell you how I feel… what the..?  _She knew that she had never seen this before and tried to figure out where it had come from and how it had gotten into her files.  She read on to see if she could find any more clues.  Her stomach was slowly wrenching into a knot as she read the last phrases of the note.  _Please help me to put out these flames.  I will surely delete without you.  _

            Dot's mind raced with confusion.  How in the net did this thing get in here?  She was the only one that ever touched these files.  With the exception of Ray when he helped pick them up, no one had ever even taken interest in…  Her thought process cut itself short as a strange new inkling was dawning on her.  Ray was the only other person to have contact with these files.  Could it be he put the note in there?  She shook her head trying to put the thought to the back of her mind.  It couldn't be.  That was just plain silly.  Ray wanted to be with Mouse, not her.  Right?  She began to question her own judgment.  What was that thing he said about having to talk to Mouse?  She tried to remember his exact words but her head was as much of a mess as these files.  Something about telling her something that was high time that she knew.

            A terrible dread came over Dot as she realized that she just might have misunderstood Ray when he said he wanted to talk to Mouse.  What if he had meant that he needed to tell her it was over?  Poor Mouse would be crushed.  She may have acted like it was just casual dating, but deep down she knew that Mouse had some serious feelings for him.  They never would have stayed together this long if she didn't.  

            Dot's emotions and thoughts were quickly getting too far ahead of her logic circuits.  In a way she felt miserable for her friend, and yet in another way she felt flattered.  She had to admit that he was very charming, and definitely good-looking.  She could easily see what Mouse might see in him.  But she never thought he would be the type to go behind her back like this.  

            Dot wasn't sure what to do now.  Should she warn Mouse about Ray's intentions?  Should she just let it be and hope they worked things out?  Even if she did talk to Mouse about it, would she even believe her?  Maybe she would even blame her.  Dot began to wonder if this wasn't the reason that she was so distant this morning.  Did she suspect something about Ray having feelings for her?  Did she already blame her?  

            There were now so many questions swimming through her processor that she couldn't think straight.  She picked up what was left of the piles without sorting the rest and walked to the counter.  She glanced over to Cecil who was humming a catchy little tune and addressed him.  "Cecil, I'm going to be in my office for a while.  If anyone wants to talk to me just tell him or her that I'm very busy with something," she stated as she began to head to the back of the kitchen area to her small office, "and I won't be taking any vids either." She concluded.

            "As you wish Madame." It was the last thing that Dot heard from the dining room as she closed the door to the little office.  She flopped the still disorganized pile of spreadsheets on her desk, sat down in her chair, and put her feet up on the desk.  It wasn't usually a habit of hers to put her feet up there, but she made the exception this cycle.  She leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling for a bit, trying to sort out all of the thoughts that were running through her mind again.  She let out a long sigh and just enjoyed the peace and quiet for the nano.  At least if Mouse was avoiding her for some reason, it would give her enough time to think of someway to break it to her gently, if Ray hadn't already ripped her heart out, that was.  She mused as a thought entered her head; this was just like an episode of The Love Hospital.  


	7. Chapter 7

            Ray scanned the layout of Mainframe until he spotted the bright orange hair he was searching for in floating point.  He was glad to see that she was alone.  After his ordeal with Hexadecimal, he felt he needed to tell her how he really felt about her, how he cared so very much for her and how he wanted to be with her always; that no other woman in the net or the web could ever take her place in his heart.  More than anything he just wanted to hold her.  

            As he approached, his relief to see her changed when he noticed how pensive and sad she looked.  He wondered if something had happened while he was gone.  He had never seen her look so dejected before.  She didn't seem to notice him as he silently glided up next to the bench that she occupied, rather she kept her chin propped in her hands staring at the grass.  Maybe he could do something to cheer her up.

            "Is this seat taken," he said, "or are you saving it for some other handsome stranger?"  He flashed her a wide grin as she realized that he was standing there.  She patted the bench next to her motioning for him to sit down.  As he did, she put her arms tightly around him, surprising Ray with its intensity.  After shortly getting over the shock, he returned her affection with his own embrace.  They held each other in silence for a nano, reluctant to pull away, but Ray finally pulled back, breaking the hold.  He lifted his hands to each side of her face, pulling her closer to him, and kissed her with every bit of the feeling that he had for her, passionately and sweetly, until he was breathless.

            Mouse was left dazed as the kiss came to an end.  It was the first time he had been assertive in this way and it swept her away.  "You sure know how to knock a girl off her feet." She managed to say while catching her breath.  "What was that for, Sugah?"

            "You just don't know how happy I am to see you, love." He said as he gazed into her deep brown eyes.  He took her hand in his and as nervous as he was to tell her how he felt, he figured there was no time like the present. They were alone and in a secluded spot of the park, but he could feel himself beginning to lose his nerve.  He had a feeling that if he didn't tell her now, he might never be able to again.  He looked down at her hand in his for a moment and then gazed back up at her face, and it felt like the wind had been knocked out of him.  At that precise moment, he realized that the wind had been knocked out of him and he was now lying on the grass with a small green sprite on his chest.   

            "Hey Ray," the small sprite began, "can you teach me how to use the baud?  It's so cool.  It looks way cooler than a dumb old zip board.  Will you show me how to use it?  Hey do you wanna go jet bowling sometime?  Or maybe we can go circuit racing or go to the data slides or…" Ray stopped the boy's hyper rambling with a finger to his mouth as Mouse's laughter could be heard from behind him.    

            "Hang on a nano there, boyo," he had to laugh at Enzo's enthusiasm.  His processor still had a hard time believing that this eager and spirited youth was Matrix in a younger form.  But he had to admit that he'd grown quite fond of the boy.  "You're going to overload a circuit if you keep processing at that speed." He chuckled as he reached up and gave his cap a twirl.

            "Hey," Enzo replied, "you wanna go and get an energy shake at the diner?  I never get to see you two much any more," he almost whined, "c'mon, It'll be fun.  Just the three of us."

            Ray and Mouse exchanged glances.  Both of them had really wanted to spend some time alone together, but when they looked back to Enzo's pleading face, they just couldn't say no.  "All right, you win." Ray said with a wink.  "Let's go get that shake."

            "Alphanumeric!" the boy exclaimed as he jumped off the downed surfer's chest.  "I'll race you there!" he shouted out as he hopped onto his zip board and took off toward the diner, followed closely by a barking and panting Frisket who ran up to join him.

            Mouse held out her hand to Ray and gently helped him up from the now flattened grass that he lay in.  "C'mon hotshot," she grinned, "we got a race to win."

            Ray pulled Mouse close to him, surprising her and causing her to let out a small giggle.  "We can easily catch up." He said as he pulled her in and kissed her sweetly for a moment.  As they broke the kiss, Ray called baud to his side and grinned at her once more.  "Care for a lift, lovely?" he said as he stepped up, still holding her hand.

            "Thought you'd never ask, Sugah." She replied, stepping onto the baud and putting her arms tightly around his waist.  "Let's go."

            "Hang on," he warned, "she starts pretty quick."  Ray wasn't kidding either.  If she hadn't been holding on to him, the baud would have left her behind.  It moved a lot faster than a zip board too.  Once she got her balance just right, they both leaned forward and the baud flew faster, easily catching up to the young sprite and his dog and quickly passing them.  "C'mon slowpoke," Ray called out to Enzo, "this is a race, isn't it?"

            "Hey, no fair!" the boy called out from behind them now.  He leaned as far forward as he safely could and forced the zip board forward as fast as it would go, but the baud kept creeping away at a steady pace.  "Your baud is way faster than this dumb old zip board.  Wait up, would ya?"

            "See you at the diner, boyo!" Ray called out with a wave and a grin before he and Mouse disappeared around a corner.  He slowed the baud down considerably once they were some distance away.  There was no need to completely humiliate the boy.  

            Mouse still held tightly to Ray's waist even though she had gotten the feel of the baud.  She was still a little leery about going to the diner and seeing Dot, but she didn't want to really think about that now.  Right now all she wanted to concentrate on was Ray and spending some time with him while he was back.  And besides, Dot was more than likely still at the P.O. working her tail off as usual.  She probably didn't have any reason to worry about it.  Then why did she get the feeling that something horribly wrong would happen?

            "Something on your mind, lovely?" Ray asked after she had gone silent for bit.  She still seemed to be somewhat preoccupied and down, just as he remembered seeing her in the park.  He was hoping that maybe she'd feel comfortable enough with him to talk about it and maybe feel better.  He hated to see her like this.

            "Nothing to worry your pretty little head about there, Sugah."  Mouse replied with a slight grin.  She really didn't want to unload all this on Ray.  For one thing, she wasn't sure how Ray would respond to having someone else being madly in love with her, especially someone that he got along with so well.  Until it was absolutely necessary, she was just going to keep her input shut.  

            "Alright," he replied.  The diner was just up ahead and there wasn't really any time to discuss anything right now anyway.  When she needed to talk to someone about it, he figured she would let him know.  But for now he would just be there for her.  He put his hand over top of hers as she squeezed him a bit tighter.  He hoped that he would have the courage later on to tell her what he had been wanting to say all cycle because it was going to have to keep for now.  

***

            Bob had been pacing around his apartment for several milliseconds now.  As if the note from AndrAIa wasn't bad enough, the reaction he got from Matrix made it a thousand times worse.  He couldn't figure out what was going through Matrix's head.  Was he really that apathetic to the whole thing, or would he blow up after the denial had worn off?  And how did he find out in the first place?  

            Mouse was the only other person that knew about that note and its contents.  She had to have been the one to tell him.  Not only was Bob confused now, but he also felt betrayed.  He thought for sure that she would keep it a secret.  It wasn't like her to deliberately cause problems for anyone, so why did she do it?  And if she could tell Matrix about what was going on, User forbid it, she would more than likely tell Dot.  

            Bob now decided that he had to get to Dot before Mouse did.  He kept replaying the scene from the park in his head and knew that she wanted to tell her.  It was only a matter of time now before Dot knew the whole story, and he wanted to make sure that she heard it from him and not Mouse.  At least if he told her, he could soften the blow and assure her that he had nothing to do with it.  If Mouse told her, there would be Dell to pay for keeping it from her. 

            Bob locked up the apartment and left to find Dot, hoping that it wouldn't be too late.

***

            AndrAIa woke up feeling much better than she had earlier in the cycle.  That little talk with Matrix about that whole note business really helped to ease her mind and settle her nerves.  But now she began to realize that she needed something to eat as her stomach began to growl.  She made her way down the hall and past the living room where Matrix had been watching TV but had now dozed off.  She had to giggle at how cute he looked sitting there with his head tilted back, and mouth slightly open.  

            When she reached the fridge and opened it, she was dismayed to see not much else but the half empty juice container, and some leftover slow food from the other night.  They really had to go grocery shopping soon, she thought with a sigh.  She made her way back to the living room and gently poked Matrix in the side to wake him.

            "Hey Sparky," she said as he started to attention, "you want to get something to eat at Dot's?  There's not much in the fridge that looks appetizing, and I'm starving."

            "I take it that means you feel better."  Matrix said lazily as her pulled her onto his lap.  

            "Much." She replied, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek softly.  "So what do you say we go and get a byte to eat?"

            "Fine with me," he replied, still half asleep.  "I'm starting to get a little hungry again anyways.  But do you really want to go to Dot's?" he asked, shivering at the memory of Cecil's affectionate behavior.  "We go there all the time, let's go somewhere else for a change."

            "Matrix," she said, surprised at his spontaneous comment, "it's the closest place to here, and I'm really hungry."  She made sure she stressed the last part of the phrase.  "And besides, I'll be with you, so there's nothing to worry about."  She knew that Matrix hated not being able to get served in his own family's establishment and he didn't like having to rely on her to sweet talk Cecil into serving him.  But at the moment, it was the only thing that worked.  

            "Yeah," he replied, "I suppose you're right."  Cecil was more likely to be less 'friendly' with him if AndrAIa was there.  "Let's go then." He said as he got up from the couch and let her slide off his lap.  "But you better be buying for putting me into this mess." He said with a mock disgusted look.

            "Fine," she replied with an exasperated grin, "I'll buy.  Now let's go, I'm starving."

***

            Ray and Mouse had slowed down their pace enough to allow Enzo to gain on them steadily.  Just as they reached the diner, he was right behind them.  Ray jumped off the baud quickly and leaned against the outer wall of the building and dramatically yawned and stretched as the boy approached.  "What took you so long?" he jokingly remarked as the small sprite hopped off his zip board.

            "Dude," the boy began, "I can't believe how fast that thing is," he said referring to the baud.  "Can you teach me how to ride it?  I wanna get one just like it someday.  Then I'll be the fastest guardian in the net." 

            Ray smiled at the rambunctious boy and twirled his cap.  "Now that would be something to see mate," he replied, "a guardian on a surf baud."  He opened the door to the diner and allowed Mouse and Enzo to go in before entering himself.  

            As they entered, Cecil inwardly grinned to see the hacker come in, but as he noticed the surfer entering the establishment along with Dot's hyper little brother, his grin was replaced by a look of annoyance.  Mouse gave a wink and a wave as she sashayed past the counter and over to the corner booth that she had occupied that morning.  She slid into one side while Ray and Enzo took the other.  

            Cecil quickly glided over to the booth and put on his most debonair face.  "May I get you somesing, Mademoiselle?" he asked, directing it toward Mouse and completely ignoring the two sprites across from her.  

            "If it's not too much trouble Sugah, you could get us some energy shakes to start off with."  Mouse said with a smile.

            Cecil inadvertently glared at the surfer and the boy in the booth and replied, "Of course, Madame."  He made his way back to the counter and glanced back to see if she might be looking.  To his surprise, she was just looking out of the window and not paying any attention to Enzo or Ray, who seemed to be immersed in a conversation about surf bauds.  Cecil grinned to himself once again.  He knew that she would eventually become bored with the surfer.  There was only so much that one could find interesting in him.  He might have fascinated her at first with his good looks and mysterious function, but behind the baud, there really wasn't much to him.  Little substance, limited intelligence, and a never-ending wanderlust were all he could offer her.  It did Cecil's processor good to see that she was finally coming to her senses on this choice.  After grinning one more time, he set off to make the shakes.

            Mouse still felt somewhat uncomfortable being in the diner on the off chance that they just might run into Dot.  It was so uncomfortable to keep this from her friend and she felt like she was duping her.  She hated keeping secrets from her, but she didn't want to break her heart either.  Ultimately, Bob had to be the one to tell her.  It would crush her to find out about it, but it would be much worse if someone else were to tell her.  She hoped for Dot's sake that Bob would muster up the courage soon, because she hated to avoid her friend. She felt guilty just knowing about it, even though she really had nothing to do with it.  Well, she did in some way, but it wasn't intentional.  She didn't make Bob fall in love with her.  She only had eyes for Ray.  "… Isn't that right, Mouse?" she vaguely heard from the other side of the table.

            Mouse snapped back to attention after realizing that her thoughts had wandered off again.  "What was that, Sugah?" she said as she realized she had been asked a question.

            Ray looked at her, puzzled by her pensiveness this cycle.  He raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "Are you sure there's not something on your mind, Love?"  He was starting to get worried about her.  

            Mouse smiled and put her hand over top of Ray's.  "Just random thoughts honey, nothing to get worried about." She assured him.  "Every girl has to have time to think about things you know."  She patted his hand for emphasis.  

            Ray still wasn't convinced that everything was fine, but he let it slide for now.  Enzo was looking on confused, and now wasn't the right time to be taking this up anyway.  

            It didn't slip past Cecil that Ray had to get Mouse's attention.  She was ignoring him, plain and simple.  She was more than likely tired of all the talk about surf bauds and the web.  He glanced back over to the booth and she was once again looking out the window and lost in thought while the surfer and the boy talked about trivial things.

He picked up the tray with the energy shakes and carried it over to the booth.  "Here you are, Madame," he said, placing the container in front of her, "your energy shake."  She looked up just in time to see him give her a wink.  He then turned his direction toward the two other sprites at the table and glaring, picked up a shake container from the tray, while Ray slid himself farther into the booth to avoid yet another 'accidental' spill.  Cecil plopped the shakes gracelessly in front of them and turned back to Mouse, who was giggling at Ray's reaction.  "Is zere anysing else zat I could get for you, Madame?" he asked with a sly grin.

Mouse held back a laugh as she realized that Cecil was now treating her as a preferred customer and still giving Ray no respect.  That tip this morning must have done the trick, she thought.  He was smiling and even winking at her now, where before, he barely took notice enough of her to take her order.  "Why thank you, Cecil," she said with a knowing look, "I'll be sure to let you know if there is, Sugah."  She winked at him once more before he smiled and glided off back behind the counter.

Cecil grinned widely as he went about his duties in the diner while keeping careful watch over the hacker.  His plan was working.  She was flirting with him right in front of the surfer.  Soon she would be begging him to take her away from him and give her the security that she wanted, only to string her along and… Cecil's train of thought was broken by the sound of the front door flying open.  

Bob quickly walked in and went straight to the counter.  "Have you seen Dot?" he asked urgently, "she wasn't at the Principal Office."  

"I'm sorry Monsieur, but Madame has asked zat no one disturb her." Cecil said with an apologetic look.  "She has locked herself in her office and will be zere for some time I sink."

            "Did she say why?" Bob asked on the brink of panic once again.  

            "I'm sorry Monsieur, but she did not.  She simply asked that she not be disturbed and zat she isn't taking any vid calls from anyone." Cecil replied frankly.

            Bob didn't like the sound of this.  The only time she refused to speak to anyone was if she was upset and needed to calm down.  Had she been told?  Bob glanced around the diner and saw Mouse sitting in the corner booth and looking out the window as if deep in thought.  He began to wonder if she had told Dot everything.  Dot would be pretty upset to find out from her and not from him.

            Mouse looked over to the counter in hopes of getting another energy shake when she noticed Bob staring at her.  She quickly turned back to the window, but out of the corner of her eye, she could see Bob heading toward them.  No, make that past them, to Dot's office.  Oh User, Dot must be here, she thought.  She glanced over to Bob who was now determinedly knocking on the office door.  She turned to the two sprites across from her and said, "What do you say we go do some circuit racing?  We haven't done that in a long time."  She just wanted to get out of there before all Dell broke loose.

            "Hey, cool!" Enzo exclaimed at the idea.  

            "Dot," Bob was saying through the office door, "we have to talk about something."

            Mouse heard Bob's words drifting over to the booth.  "Good," she replied to Enzo's enthusiasm, "let's go now."

            Ray just shrugged and agreed.  User, she was acting strange today.  He felt as if he were part of some puzzle where all the pieces were there, but he just couldn't put them together.  

***

            Dot sat in her office contemplating on whether or not to tell Mouse of her little run in with Ray and the note that he had left her.  She felt so guilty just knowing about it.  On one hand, how could she just let her friend be duped by this guy when he didn't feel the same way about her?  On the other hand, how could she just go and break her heart when it was so obvious that Mouse had fallen for Ray, even if she pretended it was just casual?  Mouse wasn't as hardened as she made out to be.  

            Dot's concentration was disturbed a knock on the door.  Didn't she tell Cecil that she didn't want to be disturbed?  "Dot," it was Bob's voice coming through the door, "we have to talk about something." He sounded agitated.  She got up from her chair to open the door.

***

            Ray left some units on the table and enough for a tip and got up to join Mouse and Enzo on their way out of the diner.  They were just about to the door when Matrix and AndrAIa walked in.  "Hey guys, leaving so soon?" AndrAIa said to the three.

            "Yeah," Enzo piped up excitedly, "we're gonna go circuit racing, wanna come?" he asked enthusiastically.  

            Matrix was already uncomfortable being around Cecil, who out of the corner of his eye he could tell was looking his way and smiling.  "I'd love to go circuit racing," he said a little too loudly, "let's go."

            AndrAIa elbowed him in the side.  "Matrix," she said glaring at him, "we just got here and I'm hungry." She said, once again emphasizing her last words.  She looked over at Mouse, Ray and Enzo and said, "Why don't you join us and we can all go together."

            Matrix frowned slightly at the idea of staying, but he had to admit, the more people there with them, the less likely Cecil was to be overly friendly with him.  User, it gave him the jaggies.  

            "We'd love to Sugah," Mouse began, "but the circuit tracks are only open for a little while longer and… "

"They're open til late now, Mouse."  Enzo added, interrupting her excuse to leave.  

"Yeah," Matrix added, "you got plenty of time.  You can stay for a while here with us.  We'll all go together and make a big night of it."  He said, hopefully convincing them to stay and ward off Cecil.  AndrAia nodded her head in agreement along with Enzo.  

"Sounds alright to me mate," Ray chimed in, looking back to Mouse, "what do you think, love?"

"Sure," she said with a huge faux smile, "why not?"  She glanced back over to the door of the office where Bob was, still talking through it.  It looked like they were going to get front row seats to the melee that was sure to ensue from this.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N:  Since everyone was so patient with me in waiting for chapter seven, (and I do heartily apologize for that, life just came and bit me in the ASCII for a bit) I went on a writing marathon and have FINALLY completed this fic.  I hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as I've enjoyed pulling it out of my twisted mind.  And thanks again for all the reviews.  I love to have feedback so I can tell if it's still quality or if it's gone down the tubes and I should just put the pen down for a while.  Let me know, I can take it.

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Mouse, Ray, Matrix, AndrAIa and Enzo all sat in a window booth.  Mouse took the side facing the door to Dot's office to keep an eye on what was about to go on in there.  She knew there was going to be tears and possibly screaming.

***

Cecil hated this time of the day.  Customers were coming in left and right now since it was close to dinnertime and to make things worse, the surfer and Enzo were still there with the hacker, along with Matrix and AndrAIa.  She still seemed to be off in her own thoughts somewhere.  Here he was, rushing around and taking orders like a common waiter and it was getting harder to see if she was looking at him or not.  If this kept up, he would have to get the Madame's help with the crowd.  He hated to do it, but he couldn't keep up with his duties and watch the hacker at the same time. 

***

Matrix could feel Cecil staring in their direction constantly.  He tried to stay interested in the conversation that Ray, AndrAia and Enzo were having about circuit racing strategies, but the hair on his neck would rise and he would get the most uncomfortable feeling that Cecil was watching him.  And every time he looked up to see if it was just his imagination, it wasn't.  Cecil was staring directly at their table.  He tried to ignore it, but it was no use.  He tried to find something of interest to focus on, or maybe even get Bob's attention, but it was too late.  The door to the office had just opened and Bob was now talking to Dot.  There was no getting his attention now.  Things looked pretty serious over there.

***

Dot opened the door to her office after hearing the urgency in Bob's voice and observed him standing there looking panicked and dejected.  "We need to talk," he said as he came in, closing the door behind him.  

"I know," she said as he passed her and sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk.  

"So I take it you talked to Mouse?" he inquired nervously.

"No," she said looking down at the floor, "I haven't.  I think she's avoiding me."

"You mean she didn't tell you?" he said almost enthusiastically, but then mentally kicked himself for saying it, knowing that she would wonder what he was taking about.

"She didn't have to," she said still looking at the floor, "I found out anyway."

"How?" he said, surprised, "how did you find out?"

Dot looked sheepishly toward Bob not really knowing how he would react.  "Ray," she replied nervously, "he slipped me a note earlier today…" she interrupted her own train of thought, "Does Mouse know about this?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he said bitterly.  How could she go behind his back and tell Matrix and then Ray?  All this time, he thought that he could honestly trust Mouse, and now he was starting to see a side of her that just didn't fit.  He never thought that she would be the type to spread things around like this.  He never believed that she would get Ray to do her dirty work for her either.  That just wasn't like her.  Normally she faced things head on.  This just wasn't her.  Why was she doing this to him?  Was she still mad about the time he and his roommate put her underwear in the freezer and just waited until now to get even?  

Dot was hurt to hear that Mouse knew about Ray's crush on her.  She must have been way too upset to talk about it yet.  She felt so terrible about it, and she hoped that Mouse didn't blame her for Ray's feelings.  She must have been absolutely crushed to find out.  She knew that there was more to her feelings for the surfer than she had let on and hoped that there was someway that they could work this out.  But when something like this happened, there wasn't much chance that they could.  Now she worried about Mouse leaving Mainframe and losing her best friend over something that wasn't anyone's fault.

Bob and Dot's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.  "What now?" Dot thought out loud as she went to open the door.  "What is it Cecil?" she said as she saw the dedicated server on the other side.  

"I'm terribly sorry to disturb you Madame," he began nervously, "but ze diner, she is beginning to get busy, and I could use your help in taking care of ze customers."

"Alright Cecil," she said with a sigh, "I'll be there in a nano."

"Merci, Madame," the server said with a bow as he went back to his duties.  

Dot turned to Bob with an apologetic look and said, "We'll have to talk about this later Bob.  I have work to do." With that she walked out the door and left him in the office.

***

Mouse watched closely as she saw Dot come out of her office.  She looked saddened and aggravated at the same time, but she hadn't heard any screaming or crying.  Just like Dot, she thought, to hold it all in until she was alone and then let it all out.  The poor woman must be screaming inside.  She wanted more than ever to talk to her now, but she still wasn't sure how to approach the subject with her.  What would she say?  'So, did Bob tell you that he's in love with me?'  That was just ridiculous.  She hoped that Dot would come to her when she was ready.  She didn't want to lose the only real best friend that she ever had over something like this.  

A nano later, she saw Bob come out of the office looking very distraught.  He glanced over to the booth where their party was seated and quickly turned away to sit on a stool at the end of the counter.  He must not be able to face anyone right now after what he just told Dot, she thought.  He must feel terrible breaking her heart like that.  It broke her heart just to see it happening.  She never wanted anything like this to happen between them, and she certainly didn't want to be caught in the middle like she was.  She didn't want to cause problems for either of them and if it would fix things between them, she would decide to leave Mainframe and let them get on with their lives. 

 It suddenly hit her that the idea of leaving Mainframe hurt more than she could have imagined.  She had grown so close to all of the people here.  But if it would help her friends to live their lives in peace, she would make the sacrifice.  She decided to talk to Bob about it to find out if that was what it was going to take to make their lives easier.

"Excuse me for a nano, would you darlings?" she said as she uprooted Ray from his seat to slide out of the booth.  She walked over to where Bob was seated and sat on the stool next to him.  He didn't look up at all, just kept staring at the counter with a frown on his face.  Mouse broke the silence finally by asking, "You wanna talk about it Sugah?"

Bob now glared at the counter, wanting to turn that glare on Mouse, but he wasn't able to even look at her right now.  He felt so betrayed by her.  "Yeah," he said bitterly, without lifting his head, "let's talk about how Matrix and Ray found out about this, shall we?"

"What?" Mouse's eyes widened and a feeling of horror overtook her.  "Ray knows?" she asked in shock.  "How?  I thought you and I were the only ones that knew."

"We were the only ones that knew Mouse," he said, finally raising his eyes from the counter and looking at her, "and I certainly didn't tell them, so how else could they have found out?"

"What are you saying, Bob?" she asked, still in shock, "You don't think that I told them, do you?"

"Oh, cut the innocent act Mouse," his voice was beginning to rise, causing people in the diner to look in their direction, "when two sprites are in an elevator and one of them cuts one, it's not a big mystery as to who did it."

The rest of the customers were now staring at the two sprites arguing at the counter.  The four sprites that had previously been sitting with Mouse immediately turned their attention from their conversation and wondered what could have made Mouse and Bob argue like this.  Dot, who had been taking orders from the rest of the customers, turned her attention to the squabbling pair.  She was horrified to hear Bob yelling at her, as if their situation was all her fault.  She hurriedly walked over to the two, determined to end the Tiff.

"I swear to the User, Bob," she heard Mouse exclaim as she rushed to them, "I didn't tell anyone!  I would never do that!"

"What in the net is going on here?" Dot asked as she reached the end of the counter.  "Bob, why are you yelling at Mouse?  It's not her fault that we're in this situation."  She glared at Bob, wondering how he could be so callous to her when her heart was being broken at that very moment.  

Mouse was more that slightly relieved to hear Dot say that.  She knew now that she was angrier with Bob and didn't blame her for the way that Bob felt about her.  Of course there was always the chance that she would still harbor some resentment toward her for this whole mess.  But she had to admit that it made her feel a little more at ease around her.  

Ray was more worried about Mouse now than ever.  Maybe this had something to do with how Mouse was acting this cycle.  It seemed like something had been eating at her and was now finally coming to a head as she and Bob blew up at each other. He excused himself from the rest of the confused sprites in the booth and carefully made his way to the quarreling trio.   

"Well it might not be her fault," Bob continued, "but she certainly isn't helping matters any with her big input!" he glared at Mouse accusingly.

"Big input?" Mouse retaliated, "I never breathed a word of it to anyone, and I'm not the one who caused this whole mess either.  If anyone should be blamed it should be you!"

"Would you two please stop yelling at each other?" Dot called out.

"Could someone tell me what the Dell is going on here?" Ray interrupted the verbal bashing and looked between the three sprites, confused and utterly floored by the way Mouse and Bob were behaving.

"As if you don't know," Dot huffed at him.

Ray almost felt as if a knife had been stuck into him.  The accusation hurt even more when he realized that he still had no idea what this was all about.  "Hey, what did I do?" he said innocently to Dot.

"Yeah," Mouse jumped to Ray's defense, "what did he do?"

"Oh, please," Dot began as she pointed off to Ray, "we wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for him."

Even Bob was looking confused now as Dot went off on her tirade at Ray.  "I don't think there's any need to kill the messenger here, Dot." He said raising an eyebrow to her.

"Would you care to fill me in on exactly what I did to make you so angry?" Ray was now beginning to shout as all the voices were being raised to new levels, "or what this mess is that you keep talking about?"

"People, please," Cecil was now interrupting what was quickly becoming an all out war, "zer are customers leaving."  Cecil was starting to panic.  "Could you please take zis somewhere else?"

Matrix, Enzo and AndrAIa were now more than a little curious to know what had gotten their friends and family to argue like this.  All three approached the others cautiously, intent on finding out.  Matrix was the first to address the issue by saying rather confusedly, "Uh… what's the problem?"

"Dot?" a small voice could be heard under all the shouting, causing everyone to quiet down.  Dot looked down at Enzo, who looked up at her with tears in his eyes.  "Why are you all fighting?"

Just as everyone began to look at the floor with guilt in his or her eyes, the door of the diner burst open, and two large bots, along with an old and wise sprite, entered the building.

AndrAIa bit her lip nervously and ducked behind Matrix slightly as she saw Phong come into the room.  She never expected to see the old sprite here.  He hardly ever left the Principal Office.  Was he looking for her?

Matrix noticed the change in AndrAIa's disposition.  She all of a sudden looked like she had seen a ghost.  "Are you ok?" he whispered to her.

"Fine," she replied, "I think.  It just threw me a little to see Phong come in."

"I know, it's not like him to leave the P.O." Matrix answered.

"Greetings and salutations." Hack began.

"He means hello." Slash chimed in.

"I'm sure they knew that." Hack commented

"I was just helping," Slash replied, "they're big words, you know?

"I'm not so sure that fixing your voice was such a good idea now."

Slash hunched over slightly and replied, "That was mean."

"Aw, c'mon pal," Hack chided, "it's time to celebrate."

"Yeah," Slash began, "you're right, let's party."

"You're ok, and you have your voice back."

"Yep, good as new."

"Greetings my children," Phong said smiling as he wheeled over to the now very angry and slightly guilty looking party, "why the long faces?  We should all be celebrating."

"If it's all the same to you Phong," Bob began, "we really don't feel in much of a party mood right now."

"Oh," Phong said, rather disappointed, "that is too bad, my son.  Slash has had quite the comeback from his condition this morning, and I thought it befitting to commemorate the occasion."

"Why?" Enzo was rather curious as to what had happened to the bot, and also to maybe change the subject so that the people he loved would stop fighting, "what happened to him?"

"It's actually a rather harrowing, if not an amusing story," Phong began, "it seems that Slash set himself on fire this morning.  He lost his vocal circuits in the flames and had to write a note to let Hack know of his predicament." He concluded.  Everyone present to hear Phong's tale shuddered briefly at his mention of the word note.

"Dude," Enzo replied to the story, "he wrote a note?  How basic can you get?  Why didn't he just hit him or something to get his attention?" They all turned their attention to the two bots at the other end of the counter. 

"Why would you put the bendy end of the straw into the shake?" Hack inquired.

"Why not?" the blue bot replied.  "It works, doesn't it?"

"Well, it's wrong, that's what it is.  The bendy part is supposed to go at the top."

"Then how do you get the little bits of shake that are left in the corners?"

"Oh, I give up." Hack turned away from Slash and held up his hand.

"Uh… " Enzo continued after witnessing the bots' exchange, "Never mind.  What did the note say?"

"It's funny you should ask that, young Enzo," the old sprite continued, "I was going to bring the note with me, but it seems to have disappeared from my desk.  Apparently the wind must have taken it out the window or something." Phong shook his head as he realized that the window was not open, but forgot about it as AndrAia cleared her throat and stepped forward a bit.

"Uh… Phong," she said with a sheepish look, "do you remember by chance what that note said?"  She prayed to the User that this would be the same note that she had found on the desk.

"Ah, yes child," he began as he focused his processor to recall the words written, "I remember it almost sounding like a love note."  At this point all ears were on Phong.  "It said, 'I am not able to speak in words, so I am writing this to tell you how I feel'."  Jaws began to drop at hearing those all too familiar words and the sprites all started looking back and forth to each other, trying to come up with the explanations they so desperately needed.  "My temperature is rising," he continued, "and I feel like I'm on fire.  I need you now or this fire will consume me.  I'm burning so very deep inside of me.  Please help me to put out these flames."

"I will surely delete without you." The small group finished the note in unison, all of them being far too familiar with it now.  They all still looked at each other, wondering how in the net it had all come to this.  Phong also stared in amazement that they all knew how the note ended without ever seeing it.  He hoped that this would be explained to him in due time.  His thoughts were soon interrupted by a sniffling sound coming from behind him, where he saw Slash crying into a handkerchief.

"That was beautiful," Slash began, "so heartfelt and full of pain."  He blew his nose loudly into the handkerchief.  "He must have truly been in love for it to be so passionate."  

"Slash," Hack corrected him, "you wrote that."

"I wrote that?"

"Yes, you did."

Slash thought about it for a moment and said, "Oh, yeah, I did, didn't I?"

The small group looked around at each other for answers but was at a loss for words.  They didn't know where to begin or where to start apologizing.  Bob finally broke the silence by speaking the first words that made complete sense to all of them.  "We are to never speak of this again."  Everyone nodded in agreement and went their separate ways about the diner. 

***

Several nanos went by and the diner was uncharacteristically quiet.  Mouse and Ray sat in the corner booth that they had occupied that morning, holding hands and sipping java to calm their nerves.  Matrix and AndrAIa sat side by side in another booth, she, leaning on his shoulder and he, staring out the window.  Bob and Dot sat quietly at the counter listening to Enzo having a conversation with Hack and Slash.  Phong left early, as he wasn't accustomed to being out this late in the evening.  The regular customers had gone and they were all that remained in the diner with Cecil, who now moped about his job again, realizing nothing would ever change.  

The silence was almost unnerving, but a few short nanos later, a small chuckling could be heard from over at the counter.  Everyone looked over to see Dot trying to contain a small laugh.  It wasn't working though; her face was turning redder and redder.  Everyone looking on was curious to know what she thought was so funny and reflexively started to giggle with her.  They were still watching her as she burst out into full laughter that she just couldn't hold back any more.  As everyone watched her, they all realized what it was that she was laughing about.  They had all been arguing over a note written by a robot that set itself on fire, and as the realization hit them, none of them could hold it back any longer, and they all burst out laughing.  

Enzo watched all the adults cracking up over something that was totally over his head.  Here just a little while ago he had almost seen them tearing each other's heads off, and now they were all laughing hysterically for what seemed to be no reason.  He would never understand grownups for as long as he processed.

The riotous laughter was joined by a maniacal cackle that they all knew, and startled them momentarily.  They all turned toward the counter to see Hex, who had popped herself in unexpectedly and was lying there on the counter laughing hysterically with them.  

"Oh my," she said once the laughing had died down a bit, "what fun we're having.  Is it a private party or may I join in?" she asked with a wicked grin.

"Sure Hex," Bob stated, "why not?"

"Ooh, goodie!" Hex exclaimed with a squeal.  "I do so love a good party." She said making her way over to Matrix and sitting on the table in front of him.  She seductively ran her finger down his arm and said, "And I do so love a good party favor too," earning her a glare from AndrAIa and a nervous gulp from Matrix.  "Don't you agree, Lover boy?  Is your temperature still rising?" she said with an ear shattering cackle.

"Oh no," Matrix let out a sigh and a shrug, now realizing where the note went after Frisket had chased Skuzzy.

**Epilogue:**

Ray and Mouse sat back in the cockpit of Ship taking in the night air.  It had been a long second and they hadn't really had much time to spend together alone.  Now finally they could relax and just be together without having to worry about anybody loving them but each other.  They sat together in one seat in the dim, waning light overlooking the waves of the energy sea.  

"Ray?" Mouse said, breaking the silence, "do you ever think about… you know… us… in the future?" she asked nervously.

Ray took in a long, deep breath and sighed.  "It's funny you should mention that tonight," he said taking her hand in his and kissing her softly on her hair, "there's something I've been meaning to tell you all cycle."

***

Matrix lay in bed waiting for AndrAIa to come out of the shower.  After the long cycle they had just had, he was surprised that he couldn't get to sleep.  He lay there awake and wondering at all the things that everyone had been fighting about and he seemed to be totally clueless as to what was going on.  He had to admit though; it was a huge relief finding out that Cecil still actually detested him.

"What are you thinking about lover?" AndrAia called out from the bathroom door as she headed over to the bed.  She lay down next to him and put her arms around him and kissed his chest, as he laid farther into the bed.

"I was just trying to figure out this whole mess with the note actually," he said as he held her closer to him, "I figured out that all that fighting had to have been because of that note, but I was just trying to figure out who thought it was from whom?"

"It doesn't matter now, Lover," she said stroking her hand across his chest, "it's in the past and none of it meant anything and we shouldn't think about it anymore."

"Yeah," he sighed, "You're probably right."  There was a nano of silence before he asked, "Who did you think it was from?"

"Matrix," she giggled, "Just go to sleep."

"I can't sleep," he said, "not until I know who you thought it was from."

"Matrix,"

"C'mon, you can tell me."

"Alright," she giggled, " but you have to tell me who you thought it was from too."

He let out a breath and replied, "Fine."

"Ok, but you promise you won't laugh?"

"Only if you promise not to laugh at me." He said with a smile.

"Agreed," She said with a grin and took a deep breath, " I thought it was from Phong."

"Phong?" he said, starting to laugh, "You thought it was from Phong?"  Matrix couldn't hold it back any longer, he laughed so hard it shook the bed.

"Hey," she said swatting him playfully on the chest, "you said you wouldn't laugh.  So," she continued as he kept laughing, "who did you think it was from?"

Matrix stopped laughing almost as soon as she asked him.  "I… I thought…" he stuttered.

"Yes?" she prompted him to continue.

"I thought it was from Cecil."  He said cringing at the memory. AndrAIa put her hand over her mouth and tried to hold it back as much as she could.  "Go ahead," he said as he watched her struggling to contain it, "let it out, you're going to anyway." 

He rolled his eyes and sighed as she finally let it out and he got the reaction that he had expected her to give him all cycle.  He picked up a pillow and smacked her playfully with it as he said in mock disgust, "Just go to sleep." 

***

Bob and Dot were cuddled on the couch in her apartment after putting a very tired little Enzo to bed.  The lights were dimmed and the quiet was soothing to their frazzled nerves.  Having already confessed to each other whom they thought the note was from, there didn't seem to be anything left to worry about or get into a deep discussion over, so they just relaxed and held each other.

Bob started chuckling after a long period of silence, causing Dot to come out of the half sleep that she had fallen into.  "What's so funny?" she asked.

"I was just thinking about the way you tore into Ray at the diner," he said grinning, "I didn't know you could be that vicious."

"And you thought that was funny?" she said with a confused look on her face.

"Well, not the vicious part," he said, chagrinned, "I just thought it was pretty alphanumeric that you could be so protective when something threatened to come between us."  He cuddled her closer.  "I guess I'm just one Dell of a lucky sprite to have such a wonderful, loyal, trusting, faithful…"

"Do continue, please." She giggled.

"I mean it, Dot," he grinned and looked down at her as he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, "Just to think that you wouldn't even think of ever running off with someone else, no matter how suave or debonair he is, makes me the luckiest sprite in the net."

Dot shifted around to face him and brought her mouth close to his and whispered with a wicked little grin, "Who said I didn't think about it?"

Bob chortled at this for a moment while she shifted back around to lie beside him again.  "You didn't." He grinned as he playfully nudged her in the side and she giggled.  A nano of silence passed before he asked, "Did you?"

She made no attempt to answer or even acknowledge that she had heard the question.  "Dot?" he tried to get a response.  "You better be sleeping," he grumbled as a giggle escaped her lips.  "Dot?"


End file.
